the church of San Michele

Where is it?

Piazza S. Michele,  

27100 Pavia PV

TRAIN:

from

Milan Porta Garibaldi underground

to  

Pavia

Before telling the story of the Basilica, it is necessary to look at the   map   to better understand its structure.

The Basilica of San Michele   is one of the main churches of Pavia and is located in the historical center that dates back to the centuries   XI and XII   and is a masterpiece of Lombard Romanesque style.

The church is dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo and was built in the Lombard period.

In the Carolingian age it was entrusted to the monks of San Colombano di Bobbio and was used in official ceremonies.



In   Xth century   It is already remembered as a palatine seat, linked to the palace of the King, so much so that the first Lombard coin depicted the church of San Michele.

 The first building was destroyed by fire in the   1004   a few decades later the new church, rebuilt towards   the   1130 ,   completed within the year   1155   had an interruption due to the earthquake of the   03/01/1117.



In the Basilica of San Michele the fragile was used sandstone ocher color that had a Latin cross plan and a transept protruding from the rest of the building.

"Serena bifida" carved in sandstone,

on the right portal of the basilica

The basilica is 55 meters long, while the transept measuring 38 meters; at the intersection, then,   between the nave and the transept rises the dome of octagonal shape   on plumes of Lombard style.

View from the bottom of the octagonal dome

There   plant   Latin cross presents a division in   3 naves , each of which opens with a front door.

 There facade it is adorned with sacred and also secular sandstone sculptures.

Today unfortunately deteriorated by weathering, despite a conservative restoration of the last decades.

Above the central portal , it stands out   the owner of the basilica,  
San Michele, which tramples the dragon.

There are many in the major façade   bas-reliefs and sculptures , which contain a symbolism that is difficult to decode in the original intent.

In   transept   we admire   there   cross and the Crucifix   of silver foil,  restored in 2002.

Crucifix in silver foil   The crucifix of Theodote   ( 10th century).  

As soon as we enter the Basilica we notice the icon of San Michele

 

 The  presbytery is raised compared to the assembly (two steps lower than the choir).   
From here you can admire, the fresco with The coronation of the Virgin.

On the beam the Crucifix   and the sorrowful figures of the Virgin and of John are the work of Urbanino da Surso (second half of the fifteenth century).  

The great "majesty " in the form of a gilded temple is from 1606.  
With a central plan, it is articulated on three levels, with balconies, niches and statues.

The altar   rectangular marble is from 1383.  
In 1580 it was removed from its original location and moved forward.  
It covered the admirable mosaic and a labyrinth.  
Therefore, thanks to what a part would have saved.

the altar

Adjacent to the altar we can see the   Wooden shovel  
by Giacomo and Giovan Angelo del Maino (XV century):

The biblical capital more famous and known as "The death of the righteous".

In the famous Death of the just San Michele, represented in the role of companion of souls (psychopomp), with the spear keeps the devil at bay to which it subtracts the soul of the righteous (in the form of a child) to transport it to Paradise.

Biblical capital: the death of the just

These lie, now dead and with their arms crossed in sign of the peace and quiet that can be seen even in the face, on the bed with two columns worked, visible; the blanket, with beautiful folds, goes down almost to the ground, as we shall see shortly, in a precious fresco. The soul, now out of the body, is in the shape of a little boy who, with his arm, clings to the neck of the winged Archangel Saint Michael, who suddenly appeared to pierce, with his shaft, right in his mouth , the devil also winged, but tricornuto , caudato and from the claws of uccellaccio; which little devil had already grasped the little boy by the leg, claiming it as a greedy prey. But in vain: Michele will succeed victoriously from the struggle and, as a "psychopomp" or a companion of souls, will bring the soul of the Righteous to Heaven.

Some photos of the interior:

Chapel "VITA DI MARIA" - Madonna between San Sebastiano and San Rocco
(Moncalcalvo 1601 on Pala) 

It is interesting   crypt,   of square plan, which    it extends under the presbytery and the apse and is divided into two aisles with two rows of six columns.  
According to historians, the capitals date back mostly to the 12th century, although some probably belonged to the crypt of the previous church (9th century).

 




At the bottom of the crypt, there is the   TREASURE OF SAN BRIZIO
(by the Associazione Amici dei Musei Pavesi)
from   2007-2013.

Curiosity :  
The Church of San Michele is called 
the church of the Kings:



The Basilica of San Michele was born over time as a sacred building destined for the coronations of the kings who were crowned as Italic kings from 925 to about half of 1150 (9th-12th centuries).

For example we can remember, Henry II called "The Saint" (1004) and the  King of Italy by Federico Barbarossa, May 17, 1155 at the age of 32.



The church used its part   transversal   and  King from the courtyard to the main door.



The Basilica was designed as one   great scenic machine , to accommodate, even with   light effects e   of adequate sonorities, the complex ritual of coronations.

We can see are the ruins of the original facade.
In fact, there are many traces left, so that the cross section of the church is subdivided on   2 floors   with a wooden deck.

The church is of medieval origin and is linked to the symbols of the royal coronation.
 In front of the altar, in the most sacred part of the church we find  the image of the   labyrinth   surrounded by figures and animals that repeat the constellations of the sky.

The   labyrinth   it is often the symbol of the difficult and laborious search for man and his journey through the mysteries of life.





In the presbytery, the place of the altar, raised above the plane of the naves, the floor was covered with a large mosaic



The floor maze of the San Michele is accompanied, on the sides of the circular route, the symbols of the earth, the sea, the sky, the man.

The year is depicted as a crowned king, at the center of the flow of the months and seasons.
Therefore, there were represented 12 months,   of which only half remain.
To the center, then, there is the image of the year and the crown on the head, always as a reference to royalty.

THE PAVIMENTAL MOSAIC OF THE PRESBYTERY - BASILICA OF SAN MICHELE  

From the picture below, it can be seen that those who have restored have left 
the circular strips of the maze :

  There  reconstruction   more accurate   and reliable of the presbyteral mosaic   del San Michele is the work of   Maurizio Costa   (1980-84) that comes from the analysis residual fragments and their integration, through known archival drawings.  
Therefore, you can not place   some residual fragment, in the overall picture of the reconstruction.

 The floor mosaic of the presbytery of San Michele,  
in its entirety (reconstruction by Maurizio Costa).  

Recall to the regality that is repeated in the center of the apsidal cup with Christ crowning the Virgin.

The church was designed as bright scenic car .

The window, where Saint Michael is depicted, illuminates with precision, only on certain days of the year the front niche.

In the precise days of the coronations, in the first day of the month of   May , the light that falls from the high window of the dome had to illuminate the head of the King in the moment in which it presented itself to the people and the Year-King of the mosaic.

The place where, according to tradition, the king's coronation was to take place, is marked by   five marble circles . The central circle was redone during the nineteenth century restorations.

In it was written the Latin inscription that refers to the ceremony

THE 5 MARBLE DISKS,  CROSSING POINT

Towards the exit, one can observe the SANT'ANNA CHAPEL  
where there is one Pala of the seventeenth century :

Sacra Famiglia e Sant'Anna - Pietro de Pietri da Prema.

Enjoy your visit