The archaeological museum of Cremona is housed in the former church of San Lorenzo. The history of that church goes back to the tenth century, but it was built over a cemetery that is much older and was already in use in pre-Christian times. In Cremona itself we find very…
The small but recently renovated Museo Diocesano of Cremona is located right next to the cathedral of the city. In a limited number of rooms visitors learn more about the history and spiritual life in the diocese. That history starts well before that of the current cathedral, as in the…
Last summer I climbed the campanile of the cathedral of Cremona for the second time, the mighty Torrazzo with its height of over 112 metres. Once I had reached the top, I struck up a conversation with an Italian man who was wondering whether he could see the river Po…
The conspicuous neo-classicist façade of the church of Sant’Agata will lead many visitors to conclude that the church was built fairly recently. It was not. Construction of the church started as early as 1077, some thirty years before that of the Duomo of Cremona. In 1223 the Sant’Agata was thoroughly…
Cremona’s civic museum is housed in the Palazzo Affaitati, which was built between 1561 and 1572. It is named after marquess Giuseppe Sigismondo Ala Ponzone, who in 1842 donated his art collection to the city. This collection is the nucleus of the current museum collection, but the museum also has…
The church of Sant’Agostino is an enormous brick building from the fourteenth century. The church stands on the Via Breda, and the name of this street gives a clue about the predecessor of the church. This previous church was the San Giacomo in Braida, with the Germanic word braida meaning…
The beautiful octagonal Baptistery of Cremona can be found next to the cathedral, on the south side of the Piazza del Comune. Construction of the building started in the year 1167 under the direction of an unknown architect. The design is sometimes attributed to a certain Teodosio Orlandino, but there…
The Duomo of Cremona, also known as the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, is undoubtedly the most famous building of the city. Almost every person living in the Netherlands knows it, if only because the cathedral and adjacent Baptistery feature prominently in a De’Longhi coffee commercial. The setting of the…