Culture

The Lodi area abounds with history, art and culture. Its artistic heritage is visible in all its splendour in every corner of Lodi and the towns that surround it.

In ancient times, the Lodigiano consisted of marshlands which were then made fertile by communities of monks, who left an evocative, though much-changed over the centuries, example of ecclesiastical building in the Cistercian Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul in Abbadia Cerreto  A few kilometres from Lodi, surrounded by the lovely Lodigiano countryside, is the imposing Basilica of the Twelve Apostles (known as St. Bassianus from the 10^th century A.D.) at Lodi Vecchio.

Lodi, the province’s capital city, was founded in 1158 by Frederick I of Swabia, known as “Barbarossa”, following the destruction of the Roman town of Laus Pompeia, today’s Lodi Vecchio. Its most symbolic monuments date back to the Roman, Roman-Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras, and of particular merit among these are the Cathedral, the Church of San Lorenzo, the Church of St. Agnese, the Church of San Francesco, the Incoronata Sanctuary (a masterpiece of the Lombardy Renaissance) and the Church of San Filippo.

Waiting to be discovered by visitors are also castles, palazzos and villas, such as Villa Biancardi in Zorlesco di Casalpusterlengo.

Art collections and museums also contain an extraordinary artistic heritage of paintings, sculptures and Lodi artistic ceramics known for their signature floral decoration.