IUCN XIth International Otter Colloquium

The town

Pavia is located in south-western Lombardy (northern Italy), 35 km south of Milan, next to the confluence of the rivers Ticino and Po. It has a population of about 70,000. Dating back to pre-Roman times, the town (once known as Ticinum) was an important municipality and military site during the Roman Empire. Under the Goths, Pavia became a fortified citadel and their last bulwark in the war against Belisarius. After the Lombard conquest, Pavia became the capital of their kingdom (A.D. 568-774). The city held out against the domination of Milan before finally yielding to the Visconti family, ruler of that city since 1359. Under the Visconti, the town became an intellectual and artistic centre. The University, founded around the nucleus of the old school of law, attracted students from many countries. From 1815 and until the Second Italian War of Independence (1859), Pavia was under the Austrian administration. The city's most famous landmark is the Certosa, a Carthusian monastery, founded in 1396 and located 8 km to the north of the city. Other notable structures are: the Duomo (Cathedral), begun in 1488, San Michele Maggiore (Church of St. Michael), an outstanding example of Lombard-Romanesque church architecture, the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro ("St. Peter in the Golden Sky") and the Basilica of San Teodoro (1117), the large fortified Visconteo Castle (built between 1360-1365 by Galeazzo II Visconti), now hosting the Musei Civici (town museums), the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, one of the best known examples of Gothic brickwork architecture in northern Italy. The medieval towers still shape the town skyline.
Pavia is the capital of a fertile province, well known for its agricultural products, such as wine, rice, cereals, and dairy products. The western province of Pavia is included in the Regional Park of the Ticino valley, Lombardy.
In early September, during the day, the local weather is usually warm (>20° C).

The University

The University of Pavia, one of the oldest universities in Europe, was founded in 1361, although a school of rhetoric is documented in 825, probably making this centre the oldest European proto-university. During the following centuries, through periods of both adversity and prosperity, the fame of the University of Pavia grew and spread throughout Europe. The continuous presence of learned men and scientists, who wrote celebrated works or made important discoveries - such as Girolamo Cardano, Alessandro Volta, Camillo Golgi, Ugo Foscolo -, together with the pre-eminence of the University in the education, added to the good name of the institution as a research centre. Nowadays, the University continues to offer a wide variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching. Research is carried out in departments, institutes, clinics, centres and laboratories, in close association with public and private institutions, enterprises and factories.
The main building of the University is a wide block made up of twelve courts dating back from the XV to the IXX centuries. The sober façade shifts from baroque to neoclassic style. The Big Staircase, the Foscolo, Volta and Scarpa lecture-halls and the Great Hall are neoclassic too. The Cortile degli Spiriti Magni ("Courtyard of the Great Minds") hosts the statues of some of the most important scholars and alumni. Ancient burial monuments and gravestones of scholars of the XIV-XVI centuries are walled up in the Voltiano Courtyard (most come from demolished churches). The university also hosts a well-known Orto Botanico (botanical garden).