And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.
- St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
Saint Augustine died in 430 in his home diocese of Hippo Regius, and was buried in the cathedral there. According to the Venerable Bede, his body was removed to Cagliari in Sardinia by the Catholic bishops whom the Arian Vandal Huneric had expelled from north Africa. The saint's remains were "saved" from the Saracens in Sardinia by Peter, bishop of Pavia and uncle of the Lombard king Liutprand, and deposited in the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia around the year 720.
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro
The church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro was commissioned by King Liutprand between 720 and 725 and rebuilt in Romanesque style in the years leading up to 1132.
King Liutprand himself is buried in the church, along with two very influential philosophers of the Christian tradition: Boethius, the author of The Consolation of Philosophy, and Saint Augustine of Hippo, whose writing revolutionised the interpretation and understanding of Christian scripture.
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The marble box that once contained Saint Augustine's bones
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Saint Augustine's remains were somehow misplaced, but rediscovered by illiterate stonemasons working on the floor of the church in 1695, who lifted a paving block and discovered a marble box underneath it, containing other boxes, one of which contained fragments of wood, bones and glass vials. These were proclaimed to be the remains of Saint Augustine; whether they actually were or not was controversial, until Pope Benedict the 13th proclaimed their authenticity in 1728, putting an end to all debate on the matter. The Ark of Saint Augustine was erected over the high altar to give the saint a more dignified resting place: a masterpiece of 14th-century Lombard sculpture, decorated with 95 statues and 50 bas-reliefs illustrating the theological, cardinal and monastic virtues, as well as a number of episodes from the life of Saint Augustine.
Pavia to Santa Cristina
In presenting the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro first, I am proceeding in geographical rather than chronological order: we actually went there in the evening. In the morning, we breakfasted in the hostel kitchen and then proceeded back across the covered bridge we had crossed at sunset the evening before, this time watching the sun rise.
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| Park on the way out of Pavia |
In his guidebook, Sandy Brown describes the exit from the city of Pavia as "hectic", and it certainly is between 7:30 and 8 o'clock on a school day morning! We made our way through crowds of students occupying 90% of the available sidewalk space right through the city centre and through the eastern subarbs, walking toward the newly risen sun.
Finally out of the city, we walked on the edge of a quiet paved road, and crossed a busy highway at a roundabout where I put on my fluorescent yellow buff and the flashing lights I bought at the Lidl in Santhià . But the crossing was actually pretty quiet as there was not much traffic. We soon arrived in the village of San Leonardo, where we stopped for a short break outside the church.
Just after San Leonardo the road we were walking on was closed for roadworks, but we were told we could go through on foot, and it was actually better for us because there was no traffic on the road! We followed the same road through Ospedaletto, and then took a shortcut on a gravel road to Santa Margherita, just outside Belgioioso. We missed the pilgrimage church of San Giacomo and walked past a stinky factory, but otherwise the shortcut was fine.
At the rest area in Santa Margherita - which, pilgrims take note, has not only a fountain and a picnic table in the shade but a solar-powered outlet for recharging your phone - we decided not to stop in nearby Belgioioso as originally planned but continue a dozen kilometres further to Santa Cristina. We adjusted our plan for the next few days and made a few phone calls to arrange accommodations. Then we carried on in the afternoon sun, on a dusty road around a sand quarry, over a canal at the locks, and then along a gravel road between fields of corn and soy to Santa Cristina.
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| Luxury rest area! |
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| Colourful Belgioioso |
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| There are plenty of fountains on the trail around Pavia |
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| Kitsch house in Torre de' Negri |
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| The quarry |
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| The locks |
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| The fields |
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| The pilgrim |
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| The goat |
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| The train station |
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| The train |
The train??
Yes, because the pilgrim hostel in Santa Cristina is closed - sadly because of a "false pilgrim" who was actually a thief. So we were told by the parish priest who stamped our pilgrim passports. We had heard from other walkers that it was closed and so we had asked the nuns in Pavia if we could stay two nights. They agreed and we left our backpacks with them, taking only a small day pack with lunch, sunhat and water. That was why we were able to walk a grand total of 30 kilometres in one day, and still have enough energy left to walk from the train station to the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro - on the opposite side of town - then back to our hostel in Borgo Ticino for the evening !
For tonight the nuns have moved us out of the dormitory, which is all booked up, and into a private room with two beds and its own sink, and it is much better than the crowded dorm. If you are travelling with a friend, I would definitely recommend paying the extra five euros for a double room, especially if you happen to come by at the start of the academic year, when the hostel is full of displaced teachers and university students! You can spread your stuff around at will - last night I was in a top bunk and had nowhere to put my things - and you can even wash your socks out in your own room and hang them over the radiator to dry, instead of going down the stairs to the fountain and drying racks in the courtyard !
After showering and washing our socks we decided to check out a nearby restaurant that offers a special deal for guests of the hostel, and it definitely was a good deal: we had risotto with artichokes and shrimp, followed by octopus with potatoes and salad, with a small jug of house wine - all for 12 euros!
After 30 kilometres in the sun and a big meal we should definitely sleep well and get our money's worth for the extra five euros we spent on our luxurious private room! 😄
Today's accommodation: Ostello Santa Maria in Betlem
Pavia - Santa Cristina 30 km
