Cremona is first mentioned in history as a settlement of theCenomani, aGallic (Celtic) tribe that arrived in thePo valley around 400 BC. However, the name Cremona most likely dates back to earlier settlers and puzzled the ancients, who gave many fanciful interpretations.
In 218 BC theRomans established on that spot their first military outpost (acolonia) north of the Po river, and kept the old name. Cremona and nearby Placentia (modernPiacenza, on the south bank of the Po), were founded in the same year, as bases for penetration into what became the RomanProvince ofGallia Cisalpina (Cisalpine Gaul). Due to the trade importance of the town, from it started theVia Brixiana aRoman road which connectedBrixia (Brescia) to Cremona.[7]
Cremona quickly grew into one of the largest towns in northern Italy, as it was on the main road connectingGenoa toAquileia, theVia Postumia. It supplied troops toJulius Caesar and benefited from his rule, but later supportedMarcus Junius Brutus and theSenate in their conflict withAugustus, who, having won, in 40 BC confiscated Cremona's land and redistributed it to his men. The famous poetVirgil, who went to school in Cremona, had to forfeit his ancestral farm ("too close to wretched Cremona"), but later regained it.
The city's prosperity continued to increase until 69 AD, when it was sacked and destroyed in theSecond Battle of Bedriacum by the troops ofVespasian under command ofMarcus Antonius Primus, fighting to install him as Emperor against his rivalVitellius. The sacking was described byTacitus in Histories.[8]
Cremona was rebuilt with the help of the new emperor Vespasian, but it seems to have failed to regain its former prosperity as it disappeared from history.
When theLombards invaded much of Italy in the second half of the 6th century AD, Cremona remained aByzantine stronghold as part of theExarchate of Ravenna. The city expanded towards the north-west, with the creation of a great trenched camp outside the walls.
In 603 AD, Cremona was conquered by the Lombard KingAgilulf and again destroyed. Its territory was divided between the two duchies ofBrescia andBergamo.
However, in 615 AD, QueenTheodelinda, a devout Roman Catholic intent on converting her people, had Cremona rebuilt and re-installed a bishop there.
Control of the city fell increasingly to its bishop, who became aHoly Roman Empire vassal afterCharlemagne's conquest of Italy. In this way, Cremona increased its power and its prosperity steadily and some of its bishops had important roles between the 10th and 11th centuries. BishopLiutprand of Cremona was a member of the Imperial court under theSaxony dynasty andOlderic gained strong privileges for his city from emperorOtto III. Its economy was boosted by the creation of a river port out of the former Byzantine fortress.
However, the two bishops Lambert and Ubaldo created discord with the city's people. EmperorConrad II settled the quarrel by entering Cremona in 1037 together with the youngPope Benedict IX.
UnderHenry IV, Cremona refused to pay the oppressive taxes requested by the Empire and the bishop. According to a legend, the greatgonfaloniere (mayor) Giovanni Baldesio of Cremona faced the emperor himself in a duel. As Henry was knocked from his horse, the city was saved the annual payment of the 3 kg (7 lb) golden ball, which, for that year, was instead given to Berta, Giovanni's girlfriend, as her dowry.
The first historical news about a free Cremona is from 1093, as it entered into an anti-Empire alliance led byMathilde of Canossa, together withLodi,Milan andPiacenza. The conflict ended with Cremona gaining theInsula Fulcheria, the area around the nearby city ofCrema, as its territory.
After that time, the new commune warred against nearby cities to enlarge its territory. In 1107 Cremona conqueredTortona, but four years later its army was defeated near Bressanoro.
As in many northern Italian cities, the people were divided into two opposing parties, theGuelphs, who were stronger in thenew city, and theGhibellines, who had their base in theold city. The parties were so irreconcilable that the former built a second Communal Palace, the still existing Palazzo Cittanova ("new city's palace").
WhenFrederick Barbarossa descended into Italy to assert his authority, Cremona sided with him in order to gain his support against Crema, which had rebelled with the help ofMilan. The subsequent victory and its loyal imperial stance earned Cremona the right to create a mint for its own coinage in 1154. In 1162, Imperial and Cremonese forces assaulted Milan and destroyed it.
However, in 1167 the city changed sides and joined theLombard League. Its troops were part of the army that, on 29 May 1176, defeated Barbarossa in theBattle of Legnano. However, the Lombard League did not survive this victory for long. In 1213, atCastelleone, the Cremonese defeated the League ofMilan,Lodi,Crema,Novara,Como andBrescia.
In 1232, Cremona allied itself with EmperorFrederick II, who was again trying to reassert the Empire's authority over Northern Italy. In theBattle of Cortenuova, the Cremonese were on the winning side. Thereafter Frederick often held his court in the city.
In theBattle of Parma, however, theGhibellines suffered a heavy defeat and up to two thousand Cremonese were made prisoners. Some years later, Cremona took its vengeance by defeating Parma's army. Its army, under the command of Umberto Pallavicino, captured Parma'scarroccio and for centuries kept the enemy's trousers hanging from theCathedral's ceiling as a sign of the rival's humiliation.
In 1301 thetroubadourLuchetto Gattilusio waspodestà of Cremona. During this period Cremona flourished and reached a population of up to 80,000, larger than the 69,000 of 2001.
In 1266, Pallavicino was expelled from Cremona, and the Ghibelline rule ended after his successor Buoso da Dovara relinquished control to a consortium of citizens. In 1271 the position ofCapitano del Popolo ("People's Chieftain") was created.
In 1276 theSignoria passed to marquis Cavalcabò Cavalcabò; in 1305 he was succeeded by his son Guglielmo Cavalcabò, who held power until 1310. During this period many edifices were created or restored including the belfry of theTorrazzo, theRomanesque church of San Francis, the cathedral's transepts and the Loggia dei Militi. Moreover, agriculture was boosted with a new network of canals.
After some foreign invasions (notably that of EmperorHenry VII in 1311), the Cavalcabò lasted until 29 November 1322, when a more powerful family, theVisconti ofGaleazzo I, came to prominence that in Cremona was to last for a century and a half. The Visconti's signoria (lordship) was interrupted in 1327 byLudwig the Bavarian, in 1331 byJohn of Bohemia, and in 1403 by a short-lived return of the Cavalcabò. On 25 July 1406, captain Cabrino Fondulo killed his employer Ubaldo Cavalcabò along with all the male members of his family, and assumed control over Cremona. However, he was unable to face the task, and ceded the city back to the Visconti for a payment of 40,000 golden florins.
ThusFilippo Maria Visconti made his signoria hereditary. Cremona became part of theDuchy of Milan, following its fate until theunification of Italy. Under the Visconti and later theSforza, Cremona underwent high cultural and religious development. In 1411 Palazzo Cittanova become the seat of the university offustian merchants.
In 1441 the city hosted the marriage ofFrancesco I Sforza andBianca Maria Visconti in the temple built by theBenedictines, which today is the church of Saint Sigismund. Local legend credits the festivities for the occasion of the creation of the city's famousnougat (torrone), although this is apparently a 20th-century fabrication.[9]Ludovico il Moro assisted in the financing of several building projects for the cathedral, the church of St. Agatha and the Communal Palace.
However, Cremona was assigned toSpain under theTreaty of Noyon (1513). Cremona fell to the new rulers only in 1524 when the Castle of Santa Croce surrendered. The French were finally expelled from the duchy two years later, with theTreaty of Madrid, and subsequently Cremona remained a Spanish dominion for many years. During that time several building improvements or additions were made, including the Loggia of the cathedral's Porch byLorenzo Trotti (1550) and the new church of San Siro and Sepolcro by Antonio Gialdini (1614).
During Spanish rule, Cremona saw the famine of 1628 and theplague of 1630.
The economy of Cremona is deeply linked to the agricultural production of the countryside. Food industries include salted meat, sweets (torrone), vegetable oils,grana padano,provolone and "mostarda" (candied fruit in spicy mustard-flavored syrup, served with meats and cheese). Heavy industries include steel, oil and one electric plant. The river-port is a base for the barges transporting goods along the Po river.
Cremona has a distinguished musical history. The 12th-century cathedral was a focus of organized musical activity in the region in thelate Middle Ages. By the 16th century the town had become a famous musical centre. Nowadays there are importantensembles for Renaissance and Baroque music, i.e.Choir & ConsortCostanzo Porta, and festivals which maintain Cremona as one of the most important towns in Italy for music. ComposerMarc'Antonio Ingegneri taught there;Claudio Monteverdi was his most famous student, before leaving forMantua in 1591. Cremona was the birthplace ofPierre-Francisque Caroubel, a collaborator with noted German composerMichael Praetorius. Thebishop of Cremona, Nicolò Sfondrati, a fervent supporter of theCounter-Reformation, becamePope Gregory XIV in 1590. Since he was an equally fervent patron of music, the renown of the town as a musical destination grew accordingly.
Beginning in the 16th century, Cremona became renowned as a centre of musical instrument manufacture, with the violins of theAmati andRugeri families, and later the products of theGuarneri andStradivari workshops.[10] To the present day, their handmade work is widely considered to be the summit of achievement in string instrument making. Cremona is still renowned for producing high-quality instruments, rare examples of which can be seen when visiting the localMuseo del Violino. In 2012 the "Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona" was declared anintangible cultural heritage byUNESCO.[11][12] Internationally, the city's craftsmen are renowned for the unique process used in crafting bowed stringed instruments which are assembled and moulded by hand without using any industrial materials.[13]
Cremona had a band tradition linked to theGuardia nazionale founded under Napoleonic influence. In 1864, native sonAmilcare Ponchielli became its leader and created what might be considered one of the greatest bands of all time. In his role ascapobanda, Ponchielli founded a band school and a tradition that waned only at the onset ofWorld War I.
Cremona's favourite sport isfootball. TheUS Cremonese played for several years inSerie A, its most renowned players beingAristide Guarneri,Emiliano Mondonico,Antonio Cabrini andGianluca Vialli — all born in or near Cremona. The brightest page in the more than one-century-old history of Cremonese was written in the early 1990s, when the president of the team was Domenico Luzzara and the coach wasGigi Simoni; the team managed to stay in Serie A for three consecutive years, ending one championship at tenth place. By defeating English teamDerby County in the Final to win theAnglo-Italian Cup (27 March 1993), Cremonese became the second Italian team in football history to win atWembley.US Cremonese is currently playing inSerie A for the2025-26 season.
Cremona, by the 1980s, had built a strong basketball tradition, now brought on byVanoli Basket, a team fromSoresina which however usually plays in Cremona.
Cremona has also awaterpolo club that play in the regional divisions. There is a century-old tradition inrowing andcanoe racing, with three different clubs, located along the Po river, that trained many world and Olympic champions.
.svg)
