BELGIOIOSO
Belgioioso (Balgiuùs in the local dialect) is an Italian city located in the Province of Pavia, in Lombardy. It is located in the southern of the province, in the plain a few kilometers from the left bank of the river Po. The hamlets Santa Margherita and San Giacomo della Cerreta are on the edge of the terrace overlooking the alluvial valley of the river.
HISTORY
The birth of Belgioioso dates back to the late Middle Ages, when the Visconti family reigned in Pavia. The foundation of the village is closely linked to that of his castle from which it originates.
We don’t know the exact date on which the castle was built, but the first Visconti to be associated was Galeazzo II, in the fourteenth century.
In addition, the name of the village "Bel Zojosus" (Belgioioso) is a romanization of the French "Beau - joyeux", thus indicating that the building can’t be earlier than in 1300, a time when in Lombardy people started to use French names.
Galeazzo II governed from 1359 to 1378, during this time he built the Castle of Pavia and, perhaps, at the same time, also to the Castle of Belgioioso.
Gian Galeazzo Visconti, son of Galeazzo II and Bianca of Savoia, inherited his father's love for hunting and therefore also for the Castle of Belgioioso, whose hunting grounds and the park arrive in the south untill the river Po, through San Giacomo della Cerreta, and in northwest probably were joined together with the park of the Castle of Pavia. Indeed, it was Gian Galeazzo, who built a road from Pavia to lead to Belgioioso and he enlarged the castle structure to make it more pleasant.
The village of Belgioioso was born around the castle of the same name in the late fifteenth century, and through some documents that we have received, we know that initially lived there about 50 people.
The castle was also the seat of the judicial and it possessed inside a prison.
Considered place of hunting and entertainment, Belgioioso, in 1412, was given in fief to the family Beccaria of Pavia and almost immediately redeployed to a cadet branch of the Visconti family. In 1431 the fief was sold by Filippo Maria Visconti to Count Alberico II of Barbiano, whose family later added the current name of Belgioioso.
In a few years (about thirty years) Belgaum saw a remarkable development, made possible by the work of the powerful lords but also by the work of reclamation of land by individuals and religious congregations.
If the Dukes of Milan was responsible for the foundation of the castle, the town was built on the initiative of Barbiano family, which favored for agricultural needs the settlement of farmers in the area.
At the end of the fifteenth century the population of Belgioioso reaches thousand inhabitants.
Among his exceptional guests includes Francis I, King of France, prisoner of passage after the defeat of Pavia, in 1525.
This important period of growth came to a halt in 1535, when Pavia and his whole principality came under the dominion of the Spaniards. Belgioioso didn’t escape the period of decline that involved the whole of Lombardy.
The seventeenth century was not a good period in the history of Belgioioso, as in the rest of Lombardy, there were suffering, hard work, plague and famine.
The following century, the eighteenth century, however, brought prosperity to Belgioioso. The castle was enlarged and embellished with rich furnishings, as well as a park with eighteenth century entrance and magnificent fountain, thanks to the work of Don Antonio Barbiano, first Prince of Belgioioso. The county was elevated to a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, but the arrival of the French Revolution brought new turmoil and upheaval. The popular uprising of Pavia against Napoleon's troops had in fact beginning to Belgioioso.
The son, Alberico XII, inherited the title of Prince by his father, was a man of talent and art lover. He ordered some works to the castle under the direction of the architect Leopoldo Pollak.
Later the air of freedom yet reached these territories and struck all that was left to remind the ancient power destroying weapons and coats of arms.
Alberico XII, became normal citizen of Belgioioso, rose up to the request to destroy the drawbridges and battlements of the castle and it was due to its resistance that the castle was spared by the revolutionary wave. During the Italic Kingdom (1805-1814), the village was lifted, and it was able to develop itself further to accommodate the increased population.
Alberico was generous and hospitable, between his friendships include poets Giuseppe Parini, and Ugo Foscolo, on several occasions guests at the Castle. Undertook reclamation works, established schools for the children of the settlers, and worked to improve the life of the population.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Foscolo, at the time a professor of literature at the University of Pavia, attended the death of Prince Alberico XII. The eldest son took the title of prince and the castle of San Colombano; to the cadet branch the possessions of Belgioioso and the title of count.
Today the castle has two different architectural styles: the west facade, overlooking the park and the fountain of Neptune, in typical neo-classical style with its large central gable and the balcony. While the north, south and east facades preserve medieval features with Ghibelline battlements, the drawbridge and the moat. The plant is square and to reach the interior you pass in the park-garden through the drawbridge. Inside you can admire stucco, statues, tapestries and furniture that belonged to the princes of Belgioioso.
Remarkable, at the town, even the fourteenth-century Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie or Church of the Friars. The church and the adjacent Franciscan monastery were an excellent example of Gothic architecture fifteenth. After the suppression of the convent the entire building suffered a serious decline, to be recovered and restored later in the current site of congresses and events.
THE CASTLE
The Castle of Belgioioso is the central monument of the town.
The medieval part, with the characteristic Ghibelline battlements, overlooking Piazza Vittorio, while on the opposite side, there is the eighteenth-century facade that opens the beautiful park where dominate secular magnolias. Down the lane there is a fountain dedicated to Antonio I and Barbara d'Adda. At the side there is the greenhouse, attributed to the school of Leopoldo Pollak. Currently the medieval part is a private residence, while the eighteenth century is open to the public only during the exhibitions.
The Castle of Belgioioso, once beautiful aristocratic residence, is now an exhibition and cultural center, unique and original, usable both inside and out to a wide audience. A place of meetings and events of national level where writers, philosophers, musicians and artists come together to expose and tell the story of our Country.
Some appointments are now "historical", such as:
- Parole Nel Tempo, small publishers on show;
ü Amicolibro, books to grow up;
- Parole In Tasca, Show of pocketbook and economic book;
- Officinalia e Vivere al Naturale, two appointments to consumers more aware of and sensitive to environmental protection and to organic;
- Expo Scuola Ambiente e Ri-Ri risorsa rifiuti, two events to make the point on environmental education;
- Next Vintage, sophisticated showcase for those seeking their own style, collections from different eras;
- Mostra di Antiquariato, traditional market and culture meeting;
- Armonia, festival of holistic wellness;
- Belgioioso Fantasy, event dedicated to the world of fantasy;
ü Bravo, the master craftsmen at the Castle of Belgioioso.
Then there are non-periodic events, concerts, parties and especially major exhibitions.
The castle of Belgioioso host the first multimedia documentation center which provides a show with new technologies.
CONTACTS CASTLE
Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1
27011 Belgioioso (PV)
Tel. +39 0382 970525
Fax +39 0382 970139
https://www.belgioioso.it/contatti/
Office hours 9:00 / 12:30 to 14:00 / 18:00
DIRECTIONS AND DISTANCES
https://www.belgioioso.it/vintage/info-utili/come-arrivare-a-belgioioso/
Airports MI Linate 37 km; MI Malpensa 97 km
Tollbooths A1 MI-BO 17 km; A21 15 km - 16 km A7
Railway stations Pavia 12 km; Belgaum 800 m
The nearest public transport m 300
AROUND
There are three stages of the Via Francigena in the Province of Pavia mentioned in the historical Sigerico’s diary: from Palestro to Tromello; from Tromello to Pavia; from Pavia to the hamlet Lambrinia of Chignolo Po. Belgioioso is located on the way between Pavia and Lambrinia, the more rural stage, which also includes the nearby villages of San Giacomo della Cerreta (Municipality of Belgioioso) and Vaccarizza (City of Linarolo).
The hamlet of San Giacomo della Cerreta, just 3 kilometers from the Castle of Belgioioso, requires a stop to visit the Romanesque church and the oratory of San Giacomo della Cerreta, of the fourteenth century, originally hostel for pilgrims who came to Rome for the purchase of indulgences. Splendid example of medieval architecture in Lombardy, in 1855 the building served as a military hospital for cholera and was whitewashed, covering most of the splendid frescoes. You can still see in the apse the Madonna and Child by Vincenzo Foppa, great exponent of the Lombard Renaissance, and the wooden statue of St. James.
The hamlet of Vaccarizza, however, we find, in the private chapel of the farm Martinoli Moro, a Christ on the cross in sandstone of the thirteenth century that refers to the bas-reliefs of the Basilica of San Michele at Pavia.
USEFUL LINKS
https://www.amicidibelgioioso.it/
https://www.viefrancigene.org/it/