My House Apartments Cremona

Marquis Giuseppe Sigismondo Ala Ponzone’s private collection was the first part of the museum collection, which includes today: various paintings by artists mainly from Cremona, Lombardy, the Venetian area and Tuscany; many Flemish paintings; an archaeology section hosting evidence of the Prehistoric, Proto-historic, and Roman ages from the town and the surrounding area; a Risorgimento section where documents and antiques from this period of the Italian history are on display; a set of more than 23.000 coins, medals and pushers; collections of terracotta and wrought iron items, sculptures, furnitures, porcelains, pieces of enamelware, drawings.

The Museum gives an insight into the work of lute makers. It hosts in fact about 700 violins produced at Antonio Stradivari’s workshop, thus offering an essential perspective on his creative methods. According to the method used in Cremona, fundamental was the inner walnut part, around which the outer part of the instrument was built.

A visit to the collection of violins exhibited at the town hall, which includes some of the masterpieces produced following the method of Cremona, is complementary to that to the Stradivari Museum. Together with the old instruments, well displayed in special glass cases, visitors can visit the old halls of the building.

On the central Stradivari square and very close to the cathedral you can find the premises of the “A. Stradivari” lute makers’ cooperative, where the Cremona Liuteria ™ instruments are on display and can be played. A wide range of stringed instruments, accessories and specialized publications is available all year round.

At the typical Cambonino farmstead, which was built in the XVII century in the northern countryside of Cremona, the buildings around the farmyard host evidence of the rural life of this area, such as tools, carts, old machinery, craftsmen’s equipment, household goods.

The Cathedral, its imposing façade overlooking the square, is considered one of the most important monuments in northern Italy due to its grandeur, beauty and artistic value. Different styles, from the original Romanesque, through Gothic and Renaissance to Baroque, harmonically merge and give evidence of the different ages through which Cremona and its cathedral went.

The Torrazzo, which is said to have been first built in 754, is one of the highest brick bell towers in the world. The world biggest astronomical clock was later added at the fourth level of the tower. The clock was built by Francesco and Giovan Battista Divizioli between 1583 and 1588 and represents the vault of heaven with the constellations of the zodiac, together with the motion of the sun and of the moon.

The town baptistery is dedicated to St John the Baptist and is located beside the cathedral. It is 34 meters high and 20.50 meters wide and its octagonal plan is related to number 8, which symbolizes the union of 7 (time) and 1 (God) and, therefore, eternity.

It is considered one of the most beautiful public buildings of the communal period in Lombardy thanks to the wide lancet arches on its façade and along the lateral walls, the big gothic double and triple lancet windows with elegant terracotta decorations and the high battlements on top of little arches.

The theatre was built around the middle of the XVIII century. After the fire of 1806 it was rebuilt on a larger scale and became one of the most prestigious theatres of that time first with the name “Concordia” and, finally, “Ponchielli”. Following another fire in 1824, the theatre was restored and its stage was extended (it is now one of the biggest in Italy).