Lodi, One day in the old centre of Lodi

Lodi – which was built on the Eghezzone Hill (Colle Eghezzone) – offers its visitors a rich historical and architectural heritage to see. If you enter the city from the North by crossing the bridge over the Adda river, you can start the tour of the city from the Church of Magdalene (Chiesa della Maddalena), actually a church in Baroque style built between the 14th and 15th century. Nearby, in via Fanfulla, the fifteenth-century church and the convent of Saint Cristoforo – which hosts some precious works by PellegrinoTibaldi – as well as the convent of Saint Domenico deserve a visit.
You will therefore reach the heart of the city, i.e. Piazza della Vittoria, a very rare example of square with arcades on the four sides. It is overlooked by the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Cattedrale della Vergine Assunta), which dates back to the 12th-13th century and is one of the biggest Romanesque-Gothic cathedrals in Lombardy. On the same square, you can find Palazzo Vistarini, a palace of the 12th century whose terracotta façade is brightened by single lancet windows. The sanctuary named Sactuary of the Crowned Virgin (Santuario dell’Incoronata) is, from an artistic point of view, the most prestigious monument of the Reinassance in Lodi. Located in a characteristic street nearby Piazza della Vittoria, is an octagonal-shaped sanctuary covered by a dome with sumptuous golden decorations inside. It hosts paintings of the 15th and 16th century as the precious panel paintings by Borgognone owned by the Piazza family. Heading southwards, you will find St.Lorenzo Church (Chiesa di San Lorenzo), a magnificent example of Lombard Romanesque architecture dating back to the 12th century. Within walking distance, in via Marsala, the façade of the 14th-century St. Agnese church shows a beautiful portal decorated with tiles made from majolica. Westwards from this point, you will come across the ruins of Castello Visconteo, a castle which dates back to the 14th century. On the opposite side of the city centre, eastwards, on Piazza dell’Ospitale, one of the most ancient and suggestive squares of the city, stands St.Francis Church (Chiesa di San Francesco), which dates back to the 13th century. It shows an incomplete façade in Romanesque-Gothic style, with a marble rose window. Finally, for those who love contemporary architecture, it is worth seeing the Bipielle Center by Renzo Piano, a building nearby the Railway Station hosting offices and shops and with a terracotta modular coating.