| Page Views: 2,589 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 | | | | |
LoriPori Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:06 UTC
Interesting to read that the Strad had its beginnings here in Cremona. Also impressive is the wonderful church in Soarza. It is fun to go off the beaten path occasionally. You never know what you will see. | lynnehamman Fri Sep 11, 2009 02:07 UTC
An excellent informative intro to Cremona. Good to read the history of the most famous violin. It must be very special to own one, considering how few are left. Good photos too, Don. Thanks for sharing. | mvtouring Sat Aug 29, 2009 16:33 UTC
Did not know this was the hometown for Stradivari, thanks for sharing;-) | i-bella Fri Aug 28, 2009 16:59 UTC
You write great tips, and you pictures are even better! Cremona is in Lombardy, but it is more similar to Emilia's towns. |
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