The Casa degli Eustachi is a medieval palace in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

History

The Eustachi house is located in the ancient district of Porta Calcinara, near the

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

bank. The Eustachi family, of popular origin and dedicated to river traffic, during the fourteenth century became, working for the

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

, one of the main city families, so much so that Pasino Eustachi became, under

Gian Galeazzo Gian Galeazzo Sforza (20 June 1469 – 21 October 1494), also known as Giovan Galeazzo Sforza, was the sixth Duke of Milan. Early life Born in Abbiategrasso, he was only seven years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was assa ...

and then of Filippo Maria, captain of the Visconti fleet and defeated the Venetian fleet on the Po in the important

battle of Cremona ''For the battle between Romans and Gauls, see Battle of Cremona (200 BC). For the battle during the Year of the Four Emperors, see Battle of Bedriacum.'' The Battle of Cremona took place on the night of 31 January to 1 February 1702 during the W ...

in 1431. The house dates back to the early 15th century and is built around a small internal courtyard. Today, two "L" -shaped buildings remain of the structure, but it is assumed that it was much larger. Casa Eustachi now houses the University of the Third Age.

Architecture

The building has an "L" planimetrically with the longer side to the west and the shorter side to the north, along the main street. The entire complex consists of a ground floor (to which the garden is attached in the rear part of the building) and a first floor. The ground floor consists of two large rooms with coffered wooden ceilings; one of the rooms is illuminated by a large

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

window; the first room is accessed from the main entrance (on via porta Pertusi), consisting of a Gothic arched portal with a ring richly decorated with terracotta plant motifs and surmounted by a tile, decorated with rhomboidal geometric motifs, which was to house the coat of arms of the family. Even the large cylindrical column, which supports the two lowered arches of the portico, surmounted by a cubic capital, seems to be an architectural element linked to the tried and tested Romanesque construction tradition. Although the permanence of the late Gothic language continued in the Pavia area, and in Lombardy more generally, throughout the course of the fifteenth century, it is also true that the planimetric configuration of the building and the refined workmanship of the architectural elements that make up the building are to be considered as modernity characters. In the case of the Casa degli Eustachi, the study of early fifteenth-century architecture gave results of considerable interest thanks to the integrity of the living organisms that have not undergone subsequent modifications or amalgamations.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Pavia