| Page Views: 2,136 Last Visit to Cremona: March, 2008 | Cycling in Cremona by Nemorino - last update: Jun 28, 2008 |
Home of Monteverdi, Stradivari, Ponchielli Except for people like me, who immediately think of Monteverdi, the Italian town of Cremona is best known for its long tradition as a violin-making town. It was the home of Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), maker of the famous Stradivarius violins.
His statue appropriately shows him passing on his violin-making knowledge and skills to the next generation, which is what violin makers have been doing in Cremona for well over four hundred years now. |
Cremona is located in the Po Valley about eighty-five kilometers southeast of Milan.
The city of Cremona was officially founded in 218 B.C. and was a flourishing commercial center throughout the time of the Roman Empire.
The cathedral, which they say is one of the "most important examples of Lombardy-Romanesque architecture," was built during the 12th century, as were a number of other buildings that are still standing in Cremona.
I rode around Cremona on a rented bicycle that I had brought with me on the train from Milan, and then cycled from Cremona to Busseto.
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Mozart in Cremona
The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) arrived in Cremona on January 20, 1770, a week before his fourteenth birthday.
He was traveling with his father, Leopold Mozart, and they were on their way from Salzburg to Milan, where Wolfgang in the next two years would compose three operas for the “Regio Ducal Teatro”, which was Milan's opera house at the time.
In Cremona they checked in for one night at an inn called "Colombina" and in the evening they went to the Teatro Nazari, a forerunner of the present-day Teatro Ponchielli, and saw a performance of one of the many operas called "La Clemenza di Tito" -- but not Mozart's own version, of course, because he didn't compose his opera of that name until shortly before his death twenty-one years later. |
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Nemorino's Cremona Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 8 - Photos: 21 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path
Tips: 1 - Photos: 3 | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | Transportation
Tips: 2 - Photos: 6 | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
 Comments for Nemorino about Cremona | | | | |
jumpingnorman Mon Mar 16, 2009 20:06 UTC
Very nice history on violins in Cremona, and on Wolfgang...wish I knew how to play the violin! Norman :) | willy_wonka Fri Feb 27, 2009 06:56 UTC
what an interesting page don. excellent tips and info! | tiabunna Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:17 UTC
Fascinating musical connections in this interesting page, Don. Back many years ago, when chamberpots were in use, the colloquial term for them here was a 'po'. | mircaskirca Fri Oct 24, 2008 14:40 UTC
Referring L'Orfeo... Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) came to mind, one of my favourite reworkings of the theme. The film is set in Rio during Carnival and it's especially noted for its excellent soundtrack by bossa nova legend A.C. Jobim. |
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