Vigevano

Vigevano
Comune
Città di Vigevano
Piazza Ducale, with the Cathedral façade.
Coat of arms
Vigevano within the Province of Pavia
Vigevano Location of Vigevano in Italy
Coordinates: 45°19′N 8°52′E / 45.317°N 8.867°E / 45.317; 8.867Coordinates: 45°19′N 8°52′E / 45.317°N 8.867°E / 45.317; 8.867
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province / Metropolitan city	Pavia (PV)
Frazioni	Piccolini, Morsella, Fogliano, Sforzesca, Buccella
Government
• Mayor	Andrea Sala (LN)
Area
• Total	82 km2 (32 sq mi)
Elevation	116 m (381 ft)
Population (31 January 2015)
• Total	63,459
• Density	770/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Vigevanesi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	27029
Dialing code	0381
Website	Official website

Vigevano (Italian pronunciation: [viˈdʒɛːvano] or [viˈdʒeːvano]; Western Lombard: Avgevan) is a town and comune in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural district. Vigevano received the honorary title of city with a decree of Duke Francis II Sforza on 2 February 1532. It is famed for its beautiful Renaissance "Piazza Ducale" in the centre of the town.

The earliest records of Vigevano date from the 10th century AD, when it was a favoured residence of the Lombard king Arduin, for the sake of the good hunting in the vicinity.

Vigevano was a Ghibelline commune, favoring the Emperor and was accordingly besieged and taken by the Milanese in 1201 and again in 1275. In 1328 it finally surrendered to Azzone Visconti, and thereafter shared the political fortunes of Milan. The Church of San Pietro Martire (St Peter Martyr) was built, with the adjacent Dominican convent, by Filippo Maria Visconti in 1445. In the last years of Visconti domination it sustained a siege by Francesco Sforza. Once he was settled in power in Lombardy, Sforza arranged for Vigevano to be set up as the seat of a bishop and provided its revenues.

Vigevano is crowned by the Castello Sforzesco, a stronghold rebuilt 1492–94 for Ludovico Maria Sforza (Ludovico il Moro), the great patron born in the town, who transformed the fortification/hunting lodge of Luchino Visconti (who in turn had re-used a Lombard fortress) into a rich noble residence, at the cusp of Gothic and Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci was his guest at Vigevano, as was Bramante, who is ascribed with the tall tower that watches over the piazza from the Castello Sforzesco. The old castle has a unique raised covered road, high enough for horsemen to ride through, that communicates between the new palace and the old fortifications; there is a Falconry, an elegant loggiato supported by 48 columns, and, in the rear area of the mastio, the Ladies' Loggia made for Duchess Beatrice d'Este.