Abbazia della Cervara was built in 1361 and is surrounded by formal gardens. Over the centuries, the abbey has hosted Benedictine monks, three popes and a saint (Catherine of Siena), and the French king, François I, who spent a less convivial time here as a prisoner after the 1525 Battle of Pavia. Tours take in the gardens, 15th-century chapterhouse, 16th-century cloister and the Saracen Tower.
