Cremona

Discover Cremona

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. Cremona stands beside the River Po, which carves a broad valley across northern Italy. Rome expanded its power into the valley from 200 BC and built Cremona into a substantial city, but in 40 BC it backed Brutus against Caesar Augustus, and the poet Virgil had his farm confiscated in reprisals when this turned out to be a wrong call. It was smashed up in later internecine Roman conflicts and fell into obscurity until the 11th to 12th century. It was then riven by conflicts between the Guelphs (pro-Pope) and Ghibellines (pro-Holy Roman Emperor), but its major buildings such as the cathedral were started in this era. It developed into a typical medieval city of fine buildings and quarrelsome inhabitants, for a time under the rule of Venice, Spain and Austria.