CREMONA
 
 
 
A cosy provincial town situated bang in the middle of the Po plain, CREMONA is known for its violins. Ever since Andrea Amati established the first violin workshop here in 1566, and his son Nicolo and pupils Stradivari and Guarneri continued and expanded the industry, Cremona has been a focus for the instrument, attracting both tourists and musicians worldwide. Today around a hundred violin makers maintain the tradition started by the Amati family: there's an internationally famous school of violin making here, and there are frequent classical concerts, as well as a string festival held every third October.

All this said, Cremona is a quiet, relatively unexciting town, and not an obvious place to spend a night, and most people treat it as a day-trip from Milan or as a stopover en route to the richer pickings of Mantua or Bergamo. However, its lack of overnight visitors can be appealing in itself - certainly there are places to stay and a small crop of pleasant restaurants - and it can be a nice idea to give yourself time to wind down here, but not long enough to get bored

The City
The centre of Cremona is Piazza del Comune , a slightly disjointed medieval square, with a west side formed by the red-brick Loggia dei Militia - formerly headquarters of the town's militia - and the arched Palazzo del Comune , and the northeast corner marked by the gawky Romanesque Torazzo , built in the mid-thirteenth century and bearing a fine Renaissance clock dating from 1583. At 112m, the Torazzo claims to be Italy's highest medieval tower, and if you've the energy you can ascend for some excellent views over the rest of Cremona and around (March-Nov daily 10.30am-noon & 3-6pm; rest of year same hours weather permitting or by appointment; tel 0372.27.633; L8000/¬4.13). Next door, the Duomo , connected to the Torazzo by way of a Renaissance loggia, is a mixed-looking church, with a fine west facade made up of Classical, Romanesque and fancy Gothic features, focusing on a rose window from 1274. Originally conceived as a basilica, its transepts were added when the Gothic style became more fashionable - presumably explaining its slightly squat appearance inside. Its most significant interior features are its sixteenth-century nave frescoes, including a superb trompe l'oeil by Pordenone on the west wall, showing the Crucifixion and Deposition , and the fifteenth-century pulpits, decorated with finely tortured reliefs.

Next to the duomo, the octagonal Baptistry dates from the late twelfth century, and is currently under restoration. Immediately opposite the duomo, the Palazzo del Comune has a very select exhibition of some of Cremona's most historic violins in its upstairs Sala dei Violini (Tues-Sat 8.30am-6.30pm, Sun 10am-6pm; L6000/¬3.10), including a very early example made by Andrea Amati in 1566 for the court of Charles IX of France, as well as later instruments by Amati's son, Guarneri, and Stradivari. You can hear recordings of the different instruments being played and you'll also catch a glimpse of the opulent state rooms of the Palazzo del Comune itself.

If you've come to Cremona primarily for the violins, the pilastered Palazzo Affaitati , north of the square at Via Palestro 17, will also be of interest. It holds the Museo Stradivariano (Tues-Sat 8.30am-6pm, Sun 10am-6pm; L5000/¬2.58), which contains models, paper patterns, tools and acoustic diagrams from Stradivari's workshop, along with more violins, violas, viols, cellos and guitars, many of which have elaborately carved scrolls, hanging impotently in glass cases; an enlightening video is also shown (alternately in English and Italian), which helps to unravel the mysteries of the violin maker's art. The instruments have to be played regularly to keep them in trim, and you could try asking the custodian when the next work-out is due. In the same building (entrance around the corner in Via U. Dati), the Museo Civico (same hours; L10,000/¬5.17) is a decidedly provincial and rather pedestrian collection of mainly Cremonese art, redeemed only by being superbly displayed in striking galleries. Alongside the art are changing exhibitions drawn from the bizarre artefacts and natural history specimens accumulated by Ponzone, the museum's nineteenth-century founder.

Turning left off Via Palestro onto Via Bertesi, you approach the Palazzo Raimondi , a dignified building made distinctive by its frescoed cornice. Conceived by the humanist Raimondi, it now houses the prestigious International School of Violin Making and its associated Museo Organologico , which is used mainly by the school, although visits can be arranged in advance (tel 0372.386.89).

Southwest of Piazza del Comune, on Via Tibaldi, the church of San Pietro al Po has better (and more visible) frescoes than the duomo; indeed its walls are coated with paintings and intricate stuccos, also dating from the sixteenth century. It's all pretty excessive, but there's sophisticated optical trickery in the trompe l'oeil work of Antonio Campi in the transept vaults. Look in also on the refectory next door for Bernadino Gatti's hearty fresco of the Feeding of the Two Thousand .

If you like the church of San Pietro al Po, you'll love that of San Sigismondo on the eastern edge of town (bus #3 from the train station, bus #2 from Piazza Cavour). Built by Francesco and Bianca Sforza in 1441 to commemorate their wedding - Cremona was Bianca's dowry - its Mannerist decor is among Italy's best, ranging from Camillo Boccaccino's soaring apse fresco to the Pentecost by Giulio Campi in the third bay of the nave, plagiarized from Mantegna's ceiling in the Camera degli Sposi at Mantua. Other highlights include Giulio's Annunciation on the entrance wall, in which Gabriel is seemingly suspended in midair, and the gory John the Baptist in the second left chapel, by Giulio's younger brother Antonio.

There's a rather different attraction on the opposite edge of town (bus #3 from the train station): the Museo della Civiltą Contadina , stuck on the edge of an industrial estate at Via Castelleone 51 (Tues-Sat 8.30am-6pm, Sun 9.15am-12.15pm & 3-6pm; L5000/¬2.58), a possible contender for Italy's muddiest museum. A display of agricultural history laid out in an old farm, it's a scruffy place, and sporadic labelling (in Italian only) makes working out the uses of the various pieces of agricultural apparatus virtually impossible. But the farm itself, with its row of tiny workers' cottages, the larger houses of the foreman and padrone , the immense stable, and the small chapel, built so that time wasn't wasted in travelling to church, is sufficient to give you a good picture of the strict hierarchy and slave-like existence that governed the lives of Italian agricultural labourers over several centuries.