Cremona: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 59 - 99 Hotel Ibis Cremona
 Hotel Ibis Cremona is located in the southern district of town 2 km from the Cremona exit of the A21 Motorway. Snacks are available 24 hours a day.
A… MoreEUR 48 - 100 Locanda Del Carrobbio
 Surrounded by green fields in the Lombardy countryside, Locanda Del Carrobbio is a traditional farmhouse, 10 minutes´ drive from Cremona centre.… MoreEUR 55 - 99 Hotel Hermes
 Hotel Hermes is 200 metres from the Cremona exit of the A21 Motorway. It offers free parking and air-conditioned rooms, with private bathroom and TV w… MoreEUR 60 - 120 Hotel Astoria
 The Astoria Hotel is a comfortable and quiet establishment very close to Piazza del Duomo, in the historic heart of Cremona, the city of music and art… MoreEUR 89 - 240 Cremona Hotels Dellearti Design
 Dellearti is a design hotel in the historic centre of Cremona, 50 metres from the Torrazzo. Rooms have international TV channels and Wi-Fi access. Gue… MoreEUR 52 - 179 Cremona Hotels Impero
 Hotel Impero is set in the medieval heart of Cremona, 50 metres from Piazza del Duomo. The elegant rooms offer free Sky TV, Wi-Fi access, and a great … MoreEUR 49 - 110 Albergo Visconti
 Albergo Visconti is a 5-minute drive from Cremona city centre, near the A21 Motorway and Maggiore Hospital. Rooms are spacious and feature internation… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cremona: Guide
This article is about the city of Cremona. For the Italian mathematician see Luigi Cremona. For the small Canadian community, see Cremona, Alberta.
Cremona is a city in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left shore of the Po river in the middle of the Po|Pianura padana (Po valley). It is the capital of the province of Cremona.
History
Ancient city
Cremona was originally a settlement of the Augustus' men. The city's prosperity continued to increase until 69 (the famous poet Virgil went to school here). It was destroyed after the Second Battle of Bedriacum by the troops of the emperor Vespasian fighting against his rival, Vitellius. Cremona was rebuilt with the help of Vespasian himself, but it seems to have failed to regain its former prosperity as it disappeared from history for a long period.
The city in the High Middle Ages
When the Lombards invaded much of Italy in the second half of 6th century, Cremona remained a Byzantine Empire|Byzantine stronghold as part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. The city expanded towards the north-west, with the creation of great trenched camp outside the walls. In 603, it was conquered by king Agilulf and again destroyed. Its territory was divided between the two duchies of Brescia and Bergamo. Control of the city fell increasingly to its bishop, who become a Holy Roman Empire vassal after Charlemagne's conquest of Italy. In this way, Cremona increased its power and its prosperity steadily and some of its bishops had important roles between the 10th century|10th and 11th century|11th centuries. Bishop Liutprand of Cremona was a member of the Imperial court under the Saxony dynasty and Olderic of Cremona|Olderic gained strong privileges for his city from emperor Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III. Its economy was boosted by the creation of a river port out of the former Byzantine fortress.
However, the two bishops Lambert of Cremona|Lambert and Ubaldo of Cremona|Ubaldo created discord with the city's people. Emperor Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II settled the quarrel by entering in Cremona in 1037 together with the young Pope Benedict IX.
Cremona as a Commune
Under Crema, as its territory.
From this time, the new commune warred against nearby cities to enlarge its territory. In 1107, Cremona conquered Tortona, but four years later its army was heavily defeated near Bressanoro. As in many northern Italian cities, the people were divided into two opposing parties, the Guelphs, who were stronger in the new city, and the Ghibellines, who had their base in the old city. The parties were so irreconcilable that the former built a second Communal Palace, the still existing Palazzo Cittanova ("new city's palace").
When Frederick Barbarossa descended into Italy to assert his authority, Cremona sided with him in order to gain his support against Crema, which had rebelled with the help of Milan. The subsequent victory and its loyal imperial stance earned Cremona the right to create a mint for its own coinage in 1154.
In 1162, Imperial and the Cremonese forces assaulted Milan and destroyed it. However, in 1167 the city changed side and joined the Lombard League. Its troops were part of the army that, on May 29, 1176, defeated Barbarossa in the Battle of Legnano. However, the Lombard League did not survive this victory for long. In 1213, at Castelleone, the Cremonese defeated the League of Milan, Lodi, Crema, Italy|Crema, Novara, Como and Brescia. In 1232, Cremona allied itself with Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II, who was again trying to reassert the Empire's authority over Northern Italy. In the Battle of Cortenuova, the Cremonese were on the winning side. Thereafter Frederick often held his court in the city. In the Battle of Parma, however, the Ghibellines suffered a heavy defeat and up to two thousand Cremonese were made prisoners.
Some year later Cremona took its vengeance by defeating Parma's army. Its army, under the command of Umberto Pallavicino, captured Parma's carroccio and for centuries kept the enemy's trousers hanging from the Cathedral of Parma|Cathedral's ceiling as a sign of the rival's humiliation.
During this period Cremona flourished and reached a population of up to 80,000, compared to the 69,000 of 2001. It was one of the greatest cities of Europe.
The Seignory
In Torrazzo, the Romanesque church of San Francis, the Cathedral's transepts and the Loggia dei Militi. Moreover, agriculture was boosted with a new network of canals. After some foreign invasions (notably that of Emperor Henry VII, Holy Roman Empire|Henry VII in 1311), the Cavalcabò lasted until November 29, 1322, when a more powerful family, the Visconti of Galeazzo I Visconti|Galeazzo I, came to prominence that in Cremona was to last for a century and a half. The Visconti's seignory was interrupted in 1327 by Ludwig the Bavarian, in 1331 by John of Bohemia, and in 1403 by a short-lived return of the Cavalcabò. On July 25, 1406, the captain Cabrino Fondulo killed his employer Ubaldo Cavalcabò along with all the male members of his family, and assumed control over Cremona. Later, as he was revealed as unable to face the task, he ceded back the city to the Visconti for a payment of 40,000 golden florins.
Thus Filippo Maria Visconti made his seignory hereditary. Cremona became part of the Duchy of Milan, following its fate until the unification of Italy. Under the Visconti and later the Sforza Cremona underwent high cultural and religious development. In 1411 Palazzo Cittanova become the seat of the University of fustian merchants. In 1441 the city hosted the marriage of Francesco I Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti in the temple built by the Benedictines, which today is the church of Saint Sigismund. In that occasion a new sweet was devised, which was later turned into the famous torrone. Ludovico il Moro supported the building of several operas for the Cathedral, the church of St. Agatha and the Communal Palace.
In 1446 Cremona was encircled by the condottieri troops of Francesco Piccinino and Luigi dal Verme. The siege was raised after the arrival of Scaramuccia da Forlì from Venice.
Foreign occupations
From 1499 to 1509 Cremona was under Venetian control. The victory of the Italian League at Battle of Agnadello|Agnadello gave it back to the Duchy of Milan. However, the latter was assigned to Spain under the Treaty of Noyon (1513). Cremona fell to the new rulers only in 1524 when the Castle of Santa Croce surrendered. The French were finally expelled from the duchy two years later, with the Treaty of Madrid, and subsequently Cremona remained for long a foreign dominion. This did not prevent from further embellishments like the Loggia of the Cathedral's Porch by Lorenzo Totti (1550 or the new church of San Siro and Sepolcro by Antonio Gialdini (1614).
The Spanish rule was mediocre. Unable to face the famine of 1628 and the plague of 1630, the duchy, after a short-lived French conquest in 1701 during the War of Spanish Succession, passed to Austria on April 10, 1707.
For later history, see Lombardy
Economy
The economy of Cremona is deeply linked to the agricultural production of the countryside. Food industries include salted meat, sweets, vegetable oils, cheese and Italian mustard. Heavy industries include steel, oil and one electric plant. The river-port is a base for the barges transporting goods along the Po river.
Music
Cremona has a distinguished musical history. The 12th century cathedral was probably the focus of organized musical activity in the region in the late Middle Ages. By the 16th century the town had become a famous musical centre. Nowadays there are important ensembles for Renaissance and Baroque music, i.e. , and festivals which maintain Cremona as one of the most important town in Italy for music. Composer Marc Antonio Ingegneri taught there; Claudio Monteverdi was his most famous student, before leaving for Mantua in 1591. The bishop of Cremona, Nicolò Sfondrato, a fervent supporter of the Counter-Reformation, became Pope Gregory XIV in 1590. Since he was an equally fervent patron of music, the renown of the town as a musical destination grew accordingly.
From the 16th century onwards, Cremona was renowned as a centre of musical instrument manufacture, beginning with the violins of the Amati family, and later included the products of the Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari|Stradivari shops. To the present day, their work is widely considered to be the summit of achievement in string instrument making.
Sport
Like in many other Italian cities, Cremona's favourite sport is football (soccer)|football. The U.S. Cremonese played for several years in Serie A, its most renowned players being Aristide Guarneri, Emiliano Mondonico, Antonio Cabrini and Gianluca Vialli - all born in or near Cremona. The brightest page in the more than one century old history of Cremonese was written in the early 1990s, when President of the team was Domenico Luzzara and the coach was Gigi Simoni. On March 27, 1993, by defeating English team Derby County in the Final to win the Anglo-Italian Trophy, Cremonese became the second Italian team in football history to win at Wembley.
Cremona has also a first-division waterpolo club and, by the 1980s, had built a strong basketball tradition, now vanished.
Main monuments
Main churches
Cathedral of Cremona|Cathedral
San Michele di Cremona|San Michele
San Luca di Cremona|San Luca
San Sigismondo di Cremona|San Sigismondo
Sant'Agostino di Cremona|Sant'Agostino
Sant'Agata di Cremona|Sant'Agata
San Marcellino di Cremona|San Marcellino
Santa Lucia di Cremona|Santa Lucia
Santa Rita di Cremona|Santa Rita
San Pietro al Po
Battistero di Cremona|Baptistry
Other notable buildings
Other notable locations
Andrea Amati
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Cremona". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
The Torrazzo of Cremona|Torrazzo, presumably the highest bell tower of Italy
Loggia dei Militi
Palazzo Cittanova
Palazzo Fodri
Palazzo Comunale di Cremona|Palazzo Comunale
Teatro Ponchielli
Museo Civico Ala Ponzone
Museo Stradivariano
Museo della Civiltà Contadina
Museo Berenziano
Le colonie padaneNotable people born in Cremona
Arcangelo Ghisleri
Guido Grandi
Giuseppe Guarneri detto 'del Gesù'
Anna Mina Mazzini
Joanello Torriani (also, Juanelo Turriano)
Claudio Monteverdi
Mario Mosconi
Saint Omobono
Amilcare Ponchielli
Aldo Protti
Antonio Stradivari
Ugo Tognazzi
Gianluca Vialli
Luigi Voghera
Massimo CapraNotable painters and architects of Cremona
Sofonisba Anguissola
Bernardino Campi| Bernardino and Giulio Campi
Francesco e Giuseppe Dattaro
Altobello MeloneExternal links