The Easter period is one of the most enchanting times to visit Pavia. As the city blossoms into spring, the Civic Museums open their doors with an exceptional programme of extended hours designed for anyone who wants to spend a few hours immersed in art and history. From 3 to 7 April 2026, every day from 10am to 7pm, the museum complex inside the Visconti Castle welcomes visitors on a rich and varied journey spanning Lombard archaeology, Romanesque architecture, Renaissance sculpture and nineteenth-century painting. And for Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, a truly special highlight: free admission to the Crypt of Sant'Eusebio.

When to visit the Civic Museums at Easter

The special Easter openings cover the entire long weekend and the days that follow. Friday 3 April, Saturday 4, Sunday 5 (Easter), Monday 6 (Easter Monday) and Tuesday 7 April: five consecutive days with uninterrupted hours from 10am to 7pm. The weekly closing day has been exceptionally moved to Wednesday 8 April, so nothing in the Easter bridge will be missed.

A valuable opportunity for anyone planning a day trip to Pavia who wants to combine their visit with a high-quality cultural experience at one of Lombardy's most significant museum complexes.

What to see: a journey through the Civic Museums' collections

The exhibition route at the Civic Museums of Pavia is a journey through centuries of history and civilisation. Here is what awaits you.

The Archaeological Museum and Pavia as the Lombard capital

The rooms dedicated to Pavia as the capital of the Lombard Kingdom are among the most evocative in the entire complex. Here, the medieval history of the city takes shape through artefacts, documents and installations that tell the story of the period when Ticinum — ancient Pavia — was the beating heart of a kingdom stretching across most of the Italian peninsula. A fundamental chapter of national history, often overlooked, brought to life by the Civic Museums with both scholarly rigour and narrative accessibility.

The Romanesque Section: the twin cathedrals and twelfth-century mosaics

Few visitors know that beneath the square in front of Pavia's cathedral lies one of the most extraordinary architectural layerings in northern Italy. The Romanesque Section of the Civic Museums preserves the remains of the ancient twin cathedrals — Santo Stefano and Santa Maria del Popolo — along with their magnificent twelfth-century floor mosaics, intact in their medieval geometry. The route continues into Renaissance sculpture, with the apsidal basin from Sant'Agata al Monte, a work of rare elegance that bears witness to the artistic vitality of fifteenth-century Pavia.

The first rooms of the Pinacoteca Malaspina

In the first rooms of the Pinacoteca Malaspina, two pieces of great fascination await: the wooden choir stalls from the abbey of San Marino, a masterpiece of Renaissance woodcarving, and the wooden model of Pavia's cathedral. This scale model is a three-dimensional document of extraordinary historical value, allowing visitors to imagine the different design stages of the city's cathedral, which remained unfinished for centuries.

The Gipsoteca and the Nineteenth-Century Gallery

The Gipsoteca houses plaster casts of ancient and modern sculptures, offering a privileged insight into artistic practice and academic tradition. The Nineteenth-Century Gallery presents a selection of nineteenth-century paintings that can surprise even the most experienced visitors. In these rooms, the museum offers an enriched experience: using their own devices, visitors can follow musical pieces selected along the route, creating an evocative dialogue between image and sound.

The Stables: prehistoric dugout canoes, Alik Cavaliere and the Visconti Castle on film

Also open during the special days, the Stables space is one of the most unusual and captivating environments in the complex. On display are two ancient monoxylous dugout canoes — prehistoric vessels carved from a single tree trunk — and an installation by Alik Cavaliere inspired by Orlando Furioso, a visionary work that brings Ariosto's epic into the language of contemporary sculpture. In the Stables, visitors can also sit down and watch Karmachina's video on the history of the Visconti Castle: a visual narrative tracing the story of the imposing fortress commissioned by the Visconti family in the fourteenth century.

Easter's special surprise: free entry to the Crypt of Sant'Eusebio

The most anticipated highlight of the Easter weekend is undoubtedly the exceptional free opening of the Crypt of Sant'Eusebio, one of the most atmospheric and least-known places in Pavia. The Crypt will be open on Sunday 5 April, Easter Sunday, from 2.30pm to 5.30pm, and on Monday 6 April, Easter Monday, from 10.30am to 5.30pm. Admission is completely free.

The Crypt of Sant'Eusebio is one of the rarest surviving examples of early Christian architecture in Pavia — an underground space of great evocative power whose origins reach back to the early Middle Ages. Visiting it on Easter Day carries a symbolic weight that goes well beyond a standard tourist experience: it is an encounter with the spiritual and architectural roots of the city.

Practical information for your visit

The Civic Museums of Pavia are located inside the Visconti Castle, in Viale XI Febbraio. Easily reachable on foot from the historic centre, the railway station and the main car parks, they are also well served by public transport.

Easter 2026 special openings:

• Friday 3 April to Tuesday 7 April 2026, every day from 10am to 7pm
• Weekly closing day exceptionally moved to Wednesday 8 April

Crypt of Sant'Eusebio — free admission:

• Sunday 5 April (Easter Sunday): from 2.30pm to 5.30pm
• Monday 6 April (Easter Monday): from 10.30am to 5.30pm

How to get to the Civic Museums of Pavia

Pavia is connected to Milan by frequent trains taking less than thirty minutes. Pavia railway station is about a twenty-minute walk from the Visconti Castle, or can be reached by urban bus. By car, Pavia is easily accessible from the A7 motorway (exits Pavia Nord or Pavia Sud). Several car parks are available near the historic centre.

An Easter to spend surrounded by art and history

Pavia at Easter is a destination worth discovering — or rediscovering. During this extraordinary weekend, the Civic Museums of the Visconti Castle offer a rare opportunity: to immerse yourself in the city's thousand-year history, from the Lombard age to the Renaissance, from the early Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, along a route that surprises with its depth and variety. With the free opening of the Crypt of Sant'Eusebio as the crowning touch, there is every reason to make Pavia your destination for the Easter 2026 long weekend.

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