In Search of Joyful Delights: A Day in Belgioioso

A city that, as soon as it was founded, was called "joyful" could only be, from the very start, an ideal place to spend days devoted to relaxation. To the name of this place, located in the Pavia plain and brushed by the Olona river, the adjective "beautiful" was soon added, giving rise to Belzoiosus, which today we know as Belgioioso. We arrive here after a short drive through the famous Lombard rice fields interspersed with poplar groves, and we begin our "hunt" for photographs of views that, once back home, can keep transmitting to us the joy of this day. And saying "hunt" is no accident: in fact, this town was born precisely thanks to the Viscontis' passion for hunting. Belgioioso Castle, clearly the most important monument of this lovely town, was built in the late Middle Ages by the Viscontis themselves, who stayed here during the hunting seasons.

Before the Castle was built, this place was called Torre dei Preti and was known for the abundance of game in its territory. Pheasants, roe deer, hares, wild boar: around here there was everything one could wish for, and that is exactly why the Viscontis decided to place here one of their most important hunting residences. Today the Castle is famous for the events, always of quality and great tourist appeal, held inside it and in its gardens, such as art exhibitions, historical re-enactments, but also "Officinalia", an important trade fair of organic food and domestic ecology.

Although a popular legend gives the people of Belgioioso the nickname "Brusacrist", pinned on them after a popular rebellion in 1766 against the curia of Pavia, which could not make up its mind to appoint the new parish priest, we admired several beautiful religious monuments that bear witness to the faith of these people, reaffirmed at the time precisely with the revolt. The most important is the Parish Church of San Michele Arcangelo, very beautiful and showy, as we also noticed in the case of several other churches dedicated to the Saint. It was built in the seventeenth century, and its present appearance is the result of the work of several architects who over the centuries intervened to make changes and embellish it further.

A short distance from the Castle, along the road leading to Belgioioso, we notice the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, known as the Church of the Friars, now deconsecrated, which takes us straight back to the late fifteenth century. Both the church and the adjoining convent were in fact built in 1491, and this was once a Franciscan settlement known as one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in Lombardy. Napoleonic laws led to the suppression of the convent and, after a dark period of neglect, the complex has been recovered and today is used for conferences and events. If Belgioioso was born thanks to the love of hunting of the lords of Milan, to stop for dinner we wanted to choose a restaurant that was in some way the keeper of this tradition, and here we are at the Locanda della Pesa, right in front of the public weigh house, on Via Venti Settembre.

"Hunting was my father's passion, and we always have a range of game dishes," the owner, Mr Gabriele, explains to us, as we settle at the table right next to a beautiful fresco depicting a hunting scene. "The place opened back in 1917, and before us it had had only two managements, we are the third," Gabriele tells us, who has run the restaurant together with his wife Livia for seven years now. We start with a mix of cured meats, fried gnocco, the raspadura of Lodigiano cheese, and we also taste mixed platters with wild boar speck, lardo, fossa cheese, pecorino with truffle. We follow these delights with fresh pasta first courses, prepared in-house, taking the tagliatelle with hare sauce, the country-style meat ravioli and the goose ravioli. Some of us opt for the risotto with radicchio and scamorza.

We continue to savour the flavours of the area with the gran bollito of the Pesa, while the rest of our group divides between the donkey braised in wine with polenta, the Burgundy-style snails and the boar in salmì with polenta. We wash these delights down with San Colombano and excellent wines from the Oltrepò Pavese. Among the desserts, all homemade, we choose some tarts and chocolate salami, both delicious. After this pleasant day we can say that the saying "nomen est omen" did not miss the mark this time either: Belgioioso is truly beautiful and joyful, as its name suggests.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

The Locanda della Pesa Via XX Settembre, 111 Belgioioso (PV) 0382/969073