Completed in 1341, Crema's photogenic cathedral sports a giant facciata a vento (wind facade) and is of typically Lombard Gothic style, which uses Romanesque devices (especially the semicircular arch) but on a far grander scale.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Santuario di Santa Maria della Croce

0.98 MILES

One of the most striking Renaissance structures in Lombardy, the Santuario di Santa Maria della Croce lies about 1.5km north of the old town along Viale…

2. Santuario della Madonna di Caravaggio

8.6 MILES

The Santuario della Madonna di Caravaggio is a grandiose building started at the orders of Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, after an alleged…

3. Santa Maria delle Grazie

9.04 MILES

Soncino's most impressive church is outside the old centre, about a 12-minute walk (1km) from the Rocca Sforzesca. The plain brick facade hides a fabulous…

4. Catedrale Vegetale

9.23 MILES

On the north bank of the Adda river, a short stroll from the centre, this ambitious art installation blends the natural world with the religious in…

5. Rocca Sforzesca

9.28 MILES

With its four stout towers, crenellations, moat and drawbridge, you can almost see the Rocca of Soncino under siege by some enemy of Milan's Sforza clan,…

6. Campanile Eptagonale

9.43 MILES

Behind the San Giacomo church, this brick structure dates from the 15th century and is one of the only seven-sided towers in Italy. The number seven was…

7. Chiesa dei Santi Fermo e Rustico

9.45 MILES

One of Caravaggio's highlights is the impressive Chiesa dei Santi Fermo e Rustico, with a brick Gothic facade, fine frescoes and an imposing 16th-century…

8. Casa Stampatori

9.46 MILES

A Jewish family on the run from persecution in Germany wound up here in the mid-15th century, changed the family name to Sonsino and began a trade that,…