Cremona, Italy

Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana (Po valley). It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments.

Cremona centres on the cathedral square, with the finely proportioned Romanesque cathedral (consecrated 1190); the adjoining Torrazzo (c. 1250), reputedly the highest bell tower in Italy (nearly 400 ft [120 m]); the octagonal baptistery (1167); the city hall (1206-45); and the Loggia dei Militi (1292). Many of Cremona's numerous churches and palaces are notable for frescoes by painters of the 15th-16th-century Cremona school. Important buildings include the churches of S. Agostino (1339) and S. Pietro al Po (1563) and the Renaissance Fodri, Raimondi, and Stanga palaces. Claudio Monteverdi, one of the founders of opera as an art form, was born there in 1567.

Cremona is famous for the violins and violas made there in the 16th-18th centuries by the Amati family and their pupils, the Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari. The School of Violin and Viola Makers has a museum of antique stringed instruments in the Palazzo dell'Arte. The university school of musical paleography is unique in Italy. An important centre for agricultural and dairy produce, Cremona manufactures agricultural machinery, silk textiles, bricks, and pianos.

Things to See & Do

* Stradivarius Museum
* Cathedral of Cremona
* Baptistery of Cremona
* City Hall
* Violin shops

General Information

Cruise Season – March to Dec
Currency – Euro (€) (EUR)
Language – Italian
Land Area – 69.7 km²
Population – 75,000 approx.
Electricity – 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT/UTC plus one hour
International Country Telephone Code – + 39

Travel Links - Trains run regularly from Milan to Cremona, and typically take about one hour. the terminus of six railway lines, all of a regional nature, linking Cremona with Pavia, Mantua, Treviglio, Brescia, Piacenza and Fidenza, respectively.The Cremona train station, which is to the north of the city's main attractions, is close to the city's bus station. Walking from the train station to the Duomo will take you about 10 minutes.