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Cremona · Lombardy
Things to see in Cremona
In Cremona the atlas lists 32 historic places: 14 museums, 9 historic villas and palaces, 4 fortresses and towers, 2 historic theatres, 1 abbey or monastery, 1 castle and 1 archaeological site.
Of these, 5 list opening hours and 1 has free entry.
Don’t miss: Museo del violino (1893), musical instrument museum in Cremona, Italy.
By date of construction, the most common period is the Modern era (44% of dated places) and the Middle Ages (44% of dated places).
- 32historic places
- 70,637inhabitants
- 47 maltitude
The town
Cremona is a city in Southern Lombardy in the Po valley of Italy, with a population of 71,000 in 2021. It has a wonderful preserved medieval centre, with the cathedral and town hall ranged around the main piazza. In the 17th century it became famous for its violins, especially those made by Stradivarius. It was also the birthplace of the composer Claudio Monteverdi, best known for his opera L'Orfeo.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
32 places
Museums 14
Villas and palaces 9
Fortresses and towers 4
Historic theatres 2
Abbeys and monasteries 1
Castles 1
Archaeological sites 1
Getting there
Fast trains run every two hours from Milan Centrale to Cremona (70 min) and Mantova (another 50 min). Regional trains also trundle hourly from Milan, taking two hours either direct or changing at Treviglio. An hourly train from Brescia takes one hour.
The 1 railway station is 1 km north of city centre.
By road Cremona is along E70 / A21 Piacenza - Brescia autostrada. Inter-city buses mostly stay on the autostrada and bypass Cremona. Flixbus runs twice a day from Milan (3 hr) and continues to Modena. SETA Bus E57 runs once a day from Piacenza.
The bus station in Cremona is 200 m east of the railway station.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
What to see, according to Wikivoyage
Piazza del Comune is the wonderful medieval square at the heart of Cremona. Symbolically, religious buildings are on the east side (Duomo, Baptistry and Torrazzo) and secular buildings such as Town Hall are on the west.
Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta). Grand cathedral begun in 1107: the main facade (circa 1300) is Romanesque. The interior is richly decorated with frescoes and major works of art. The octagonal Baptistry was added in 1167. The composer Monteverdi (1567-1643) was probably a choir-boy here; he was born in Cremona but made his name in Mantova and Venice.
Torrazzo. Tue-Sun 10:00-13:00, 14:30-18:00. This is the free-standing cathedral bell tower, a 112.5-m brickwork giant built 1230-1309 that defines the city landscape. The astronomical clock on the fourth storey, 8.2 m in diameter, was installed in 1588. Adult €5.
Palazzo del Comune is the town hall, on the west flank of the cathedral. It was built in 1206.
Loggia dei Militi next to town hall was built in 1292. It was the meeting place of the "Society of Soldiers" and housed the civic regalia.
Museo del Violino.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage · Underlined names link to our own pages.