Holiday apartment in Certosa di Pavia: Monastery, Art and Trails

Certosa di Pavia combines monastic architecture, art and trails through the landscape surrounding the monument. The Certosa di Pavia is a Cistercian monastery and a sanctuary dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Grace. Construction began under Gian Galeazzo Visconti on 27 August 1396. Planning a stay in a holiday apartment in Certosa di Pavia therefore offers the opportunity to combine a museum visit and historic rooms with days spent walking or cycling.

Discover the monastery, church and museum

The Museo della Certosa di Pavia is located in the Palazzo Ducale, the former summer residence of the Visconti-Sforza family. The ground-floor Gipsoteca contains plaster casts of the reliefs on the church façade, as well as other works that adorned the monument. On the first floor are a picture gallery, a sculpture collection and a fresco studiolo from the second half of the 16th century.

The church itself also offers several specific points of interest for a day of culture. Its floor plan takes the form of a Latin cross with three naves, an apse and a transept. The church also contains the only surviving panel from Perugino’s polyptych in the Certosa: the work “Padre Eterno”. The terracotta ornaments of the Chiostro Grande were executed in 1478 by Rinaldo de Stauris together with Cristoforo and Antonio Mantegazza.

Chiostro Grande and Parco Nuovo

The Chiostro Grande is approximately 125 metres long and 100 metres wide. Today, 24 monks’ cells or small houses border the large cloister; each consists of three rooms and a garden. This means that visitors can observe not only individual works of art, but also the spatial arrangement of the monastic complex. Around 1390, Gian Galeazzo Visconti extended the Parco Nuovo as far as the walls of the Certosa di Pavia.

Opening hours and routes to the monument

From 29 March 2026, the Complesso Monumentale e Museo della Certosa di Pavia will be open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00. The last admission is at 17:30; it is closed on Mondays.

Bus services run from Pavia and Milan to Certosa di Pavia. The stop is on the SP 35 near the Church of San Michele; from there, it is about a 15-minute walk to the monument via Viale Certosa. There is also a rural route for cyclists and pedestrians between the railway station and Certosa di Pavia. It runs partly along a paved road and partly along an unpaved path, bypasses the monument walls and leads directly to the main entrance.

Cycle paths between Pavia and the Ticino

For longer excursions, the “Da Milano a Pavia” cycling tour is a good option. It runs along the Alzaia beside the Naviglio Pavese and leads to Certosa di Pavia. The Greenway is an 18-kilometre walking and cycling route that connects Certosa di Pavia with the Ticino River and mainly follows the course of the Roggia Vernavola. The different route lengths can be taken into account when planning your day if you would like to combine the cultural visit with a longer cycle tour.

The right accommodation for your travel plans

When choosing a holiday apartment in Certosa di Pavia, your preferred way of spending the day can be the deciding factor: the focus may be on the church, museum and Chiostro Grande, or on the routes connecting with Pavia, the Naviglio Pavese and the Ticino. Accommodation should therefore primarily be viewed as a starting point for your personal mix of culture, walking and cycling.

More destinations for your travel plans: Pieve Porto Morone, Broni, Godiasco, Mortara, Ponte Nizza, Siziano, Villanterio and Scaldasole.

Back to the main travel overview: Pavia.