| Soncino | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Lombardy | |
| Territory | Cremasco | |
| Altitude | 89 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 45.32 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 7.691 (2016) | |
| Name inhabitants | Soncinesi | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0374 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 26029 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | San Martino (11 November) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Soncino is a city of Lombardy.
To know
Fortified city, with castle, it is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
Geographical notes
In the north of the Cremasco, on the right bank of the Oglio on the border with Lower Brescia is Lower Bergamo area, is 20 km from Cream, 37 from Cremona, 44 from Brescia.
Background
It was born as a fortified stronghold on the borders of the countryside of Cremona, as opposed to the opposite Orzinuovi, beyond the Oglio, bulwark of the Contado of Brescia. However, the site reveals more ancient origins; according to scholars Soncino existed as a place fortified by the Goths already in the fourth century, to then maintain its military role again with the Lombards, until the seventh century, when it became part of the Diocese of Cremona. The Municipality of Cremona finally bought it in 1118 making it an armed outpost against Milan is Brescia. A long period of sieges, conquests, looting, destruction opens up for the village, disputed gradually by Cremonesi, Bresciani, Milanese, Venetians, French, Spaniards, the latter of whom made it a marquisate. Finally merged into the Austrian dominions in 1707, it followed the fate of Austrian Lombardy and Lombardy Veneto until the annexation to the House of Savoy in 1859, and then to united Italy.
The Jews in Soncino
The presence of the Jews in Soncino began in the fifteenth century, when the Nathan family, expelled from Germany, settled in the village, where the Sforza family welcomed them willingly, taking advantage of their funding. In this stronghold on the border with the Republic of Venice the Nathans (who then took the surname Soncino from the village, started the printing activity 28 years after its invention by Gutemberg. In 1483 they print their first book, and then in 1488 for the first time in history they published the complete Hebrew Bible in print.
The family was then forced to emigrate due to ups and downs, moving to Barco, Brescia, Casalmaggiore (where they continued their activity by publishing one of the first editions of the Jerusalem liberated by Torquato Tasso, now preserved in New York), Pesaro, Naples, finally a Thessaloniki is Constantinople, where they continued to sign their prints with their surname Soncino..
A Soncino remains the so-called House of the Printers, which has always been referred to as their residence and their printing house, which now houses the famous Printing Museum.
How to orient yourself
Soncino: full screen map.The historic center can be perfectly visited on foot and is still partly enclosed by the walls that embrace the relief on which the fortified citadel stands with a development of about 2 kilometers. The three canonical parts of the medieval urban layout are clearly distinguished: the square, seat of political power, with the town hall and the civic tower; the square seat of religious power, with the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta and the convent of San Giacomo; the commercial square, which still hosts the weekly market.
Neighborhoods
The hamlets of Gallignano, Isengo and Villacampagna are inhabited centers in the territory of Soncino.
How to get
By plane
The nearest airports are:
- 1 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (the Caravaggio), Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ 39 035 326323.
- 2 Verona Airport (Catullus), Boxes of Sommacampagna, ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected].
- 3 Parma airport (G. Verdi), Via Emilia - Golese locality, ☎ 39 0521 951511.
By car
Soncino is affected by the following arteries:
- Tollbooth of Football on the Bre-Be-Mi
- highway Cremona - Bergamo
- provincial road Pavia - Brescia
- Soncino provincial road - Football
- Soncino provincial road - Casaletto di Sopra
- Tollbooth of 
- highway 
- provincial road 
- Soncino provincial road - 
- Soncino provincial road - By bus
- Cremona - Soncino bus line [1]
How to get around
The small size of the historic center allows a complete visit of all the monuments by moving on foot, which also allows you to admire the characteristic views that are encountered among the oldest streets.
What see
1 Rocca Sforzesca, Piazza Prof. Enea Ferrari (Enter navigator Via Marconi), ☎ 39 0374 83188, @[email protected]. 
from Tuesday to Friday 10.00-12.00 / 14-00-16.00 - Saturday / Sunday and holidays 10.00-12.30 / 14.30-17.00 (until 29 March) then summer hours: Saturday-Sunday and holidays 10.00-12.30 / 14.30-19.00 (until October 26). It was Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza who had the Rocca di Soncino built in 1473, based on a project by the architect Bartolomeo Gadio, from Cremona. Its construction took only three years, and was therefore particularly fast. The structure is preceded by a drawbridge that protrudes with a wall beyond the main quadrilateral body. Four corner towers with imposing scarp bases are connected by patrol walkways with Ghibelline battlements, ie dovetail. Three towers are square; the fourth is cylindrical. Under the whole building there are vast underground areas that count many rooms arranged on several floors, and also include the prisons. Inside the Castle, in rooms accessible from the courtyard, are the Aquaria Civic Archaeological Museum and the War Museum o Museum of the Fighters.
from Tuesday to Friday 10.00-12.00 / 14-00-16.00 - Saturday / Sunday and holidays 10.00-12.30 / 14.30-17.00 (until 29 March) then summer hours: Saturday-Sunday and holidays 10.00-12.30 / 14.30-19.00 (until October 26). It was Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza who had the Rocca di Soncino built in 1473, based on a project by the architect Bartolomeo Gadio, from Cremona. Its construction took only three years, and was therefore particularly fast. The structure is preceded by a drawbridge that protrudes with a wall beyond the main quadrilateral body. Four corner towers with imposing scarp bases are connected by patrol walkways with Ghibelline battlements, ie dovetail. Three towers are square; the fourth is cylindrical. Under the whole building there are vast underground areas that count many rooms arranged on several floors, and also include the prisons. Inside the Castle, in rooms accessible from the courtyard, are the Aquaria Civic Archaeological Museum and the War Museum o Museum of the Fighters.
- 2 [link not working]Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Via Galantino 64, ☎ 39 037484810, @[email protected]. 9.00-12-00 15.00-18.00. The Carmelite friars built it in 1501 along the ancient route that connected Bergamo is Cremona. Of imposing structure, it has a single nave with five chapels on each side and has a rectangular structure. The interior has all been beautifully frescoed and preserves works by an artist of the caliber of Giulio Campi, but also works by Bernardino and Francesco Carminati and the Soncinese painter Francesco Scanzi. It became the private chapel of the very rich and noble Stampa family, the church experienced abandonment and decay following the suppression of the convents carried out by decree of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1772; it was removed from abandonment in 1864 by the Santa Soncinese Paola Elisabetta Cerioli, who bought the church and convent, restoring them to their ancient beauty.
- 3 Parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. Considered to be the oldest parish church in the Diocese of Cremona, the church now presents itself in the aspect it was given at the end of the nineteenth century by the interventions carried out by the architect Carlo Maciachini, who also built the octagonal dome that imposingly dominates the transept. The ancient Pieve originated in the fifth century by the Goths; in the seventh century it hosted the Episcopal Chair during an exile of the Bishop of Cremona. Its history was studded with destruction and damage, the last of which was in 1802, when a strong earthquake occurred in Soncino.
The church retains one Trinity from the medieval period, a fresco that has the characteristic of depicting the three Trinitarian subjects with the same figure. The most important pictorial work is by the Flemish Matthias Stom, a pupil of Rubens, who depicts Flavius Joseph freed from chains by the Emperor Vespasian. Finally, a side chapel preserves a large number of relics, including the Holy Thorn, the Holy Manger, the Holy Nail and the Holy Cross.
- 4 Palazzo Pretorio. When the Municipality of Cremona in 1118 bought Soncino from the Gisalbertini Counts of Bergamo, after having fortified the village, it built the new Palazzo dei Consoli next to the Palazzo Vecchio and equipped it with a Civic Tower which initially measured 31 meters and a half in height , raised in a subsequent period up to the current 41.80 meters. The Palazzo Pretorio is a later addition; built around the middle of the 13th century by the lord Buoso da Dovara; Ezzelino da Romano was buried under the arches of the palace. According to tradition, he was imprisoned here after the defeat of Cassano in 1259. After a few days he is said to have let himself die; every Wednesday morning at 9.00 the bell of the civic tower rings the tolls of agony, to commemorate the death of the tyrant. Inside the palace is housed the important historical archive which collects documents from 1311, as well as a picture gallery, in the Sala della Giunta.
- 5 Azzanelli Palace. Elegant building with string course and windows decorated in terracotta. Built between 1100 and 1200, it shows ornamental motifs typical of the following 14th century, with cherubs, heads, garlands, festoons, medallions. This decorative style is very common in Lombardy in the aforementioned period, and in Soncino the terracotta is also used in the production of pottery, as well as bricks for construction, an activity that in past centuries was in a very flourishing area. It was an expression of the wealth of the Azzanelli, a family of landowners, merchants and bankers.
- 6 Church of San Giacomo. Its dedication to St. James is linked to the existence of a hospitale, that is a place of welcome for pilgrims who made the journey to Santiago de Compostela. The church of San Giacomo took the place of the hospice in the 12th century. The Augustinian friars in the fourteenth century endowed the temple with heptagonal bell tower (seven-sided) which combines the originality of the shape with the characteristic of being pending, following the earthquake that occurred in 1802. The arrival of the Dominicans, who took over from the Augustinians, determined the construction of the Convent in 1428, which originally had two cloisters. The church has three naves, with a wide staircase that leads from the central nave to the strongly raised high altar; a third underground level is located under the main altar and is accessed by a central and two lateral stairs. In the first chapel on the right there is a valuable one Lamentation in terracotta of the fifteenth century, which was originally polychrome. The ceiling of the central nave is pleasantly frescoed
Museums
- 7 Silk Museum, via Cattaneo (former spinning mill), @[email protected]. It remains open on the 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month from 2.30pm to 5.00pm - August by reservation only. For extraordinary visits, contact the Rocca Ticket Office Tourist Office 39 0374 83188. Near the beautiful Rocca Sforzesca, in the setting of the former spinning mill in Soncino, the Silk Museum offers visitors a view of ancient tools for the production of silk, from the procurement of silkworm eggs to the reeling of silk. The museum was born from a private collection of its Curator, Enzo Corbani, which began over twenty years ago and continues today. The museum has recently undergone an expansion, with the opening of a room dedicated to bacological or seed-silk companies, that is, egg-producing companies: it is one of the very rare rooms dedicated to this in all of Italy. You will also find period films on sericulture and posters on the subject.
- 8 Medieval living room, piazza della Pieve 4, ☎ 39 0374 83675. It is located inside the cloister of the Church of San Giamo and re-proposes scenes of medieval life.,
- 9 Aquaria Civic Archaeological Museum (in the Rocca). Following are the opening hours of the Rocca Sforzesca. Through a chronological and thematic path divided into different sections, it deals with the population in the territory from prehistoric times to the 17th century.
- 10 War Museum (Museum of the Fighters), on the ground floor of the northwest tower of the castle (privately owned museum), ☎ 39 0374 84883. open 10.00 -12.00 14.00-16.00 from Tuesday to Friday, 10.00 -12.30 and 15.00 -19.00 Saturday and holidays (from March to October); 10.00 -12.00 from Tuesday to Friday, 10.00 -12.30 and 14.30-18.30 Saturdays and holidays (from October to March), closed on Mondays. It preserves a collection of Garibaldi's uniforms, relics and documents from World War I and II.
- 11 Museum of Printing - House of the Jewish Printers Soncino, Via Lanfranco 6, ☎ 39 0374 83171. It is located in a typical fourteenth-century tower structure that tradition has always indicated as the home of the Jewish printers Soncino located in the neighborhood once inhabited by the Jews, where there was also the Jewish cemetery and probably the synagogue. It exhibits ancient printing machines and original Soncino books.
Events and parties
- Carnival of Soncino.
- Fantasy Soncino. on April 25.
- Spring Festival. The fourth Sunday of May.
- Medieval evening. in June.
- European Day of Jewish Culture. the first Sunday of September.
- Festival of San Luigi. the second Sunday of September. town festival
- Extemporaneous painting. the second Sunday of September.
- Historical re-enactment. the first Sunday of October.
- Festival of the roots. the fourth Sunday of October. dedicated to the typical product of Soncino, the bitter roots
- Halloween in Rocca. on October 31st.
- The tourist office also organizes non-fixed events such as those indicated above, which are advertised on the site [2]
What to do
- 1 Municipal Library, Via Dante Alighieri, 23, ☎ 39 0374 85653.
Shopping
- There bitter root, which has the shape of a carrot, is a typical winter product of the Soncino area. It has remarkable health properties, is an exceptional purifier and thanks to inulin it contains produces beneficial effects on the blood and intestines.
- 1 Weekly market. on Tuesday.
How to have fun
Where to eat
Moderate prices
- 1 La Veranda Pizzeria Restaurant, via Battisti 25, ☎ 39 0374 837002.
- 2 Boston Bar Restaurant, Piazza Garibaldi 4, ☎ 39 0374 84739. open every day.
Average prices
- 3 Antica Rocca Restaurant, via Cesare Battisti 1, ☎ 39 0374 85672, @[email protected].
- 4 [link not working]Il Castello Restaurant, via Cesare Battisti 22 (with pizzeria), ☎ 39 347 9720982, @[email protected]..
- 5 Saragat pizzeria restaurant, Via Milano, 27, ☎ 39 0374 - 85668.
- 6 Cascinet de Mondo farmhouse, Via Gazzuoli 5, ☎ 39 0374 84208, @[email protected].
15-25 euros. Sunday lunch. Other times by reservation. Typical country farmhouse a few steps from the Rocca Sforzesca. Homemade and genuine cuisine. Products of the company itself are used. Informal and quiet environment. Possibility to visit the company.
15-25 euros. Where stay
Average prices
- 1 Glam Hotel, via Milano 25 (4 stars), ☎ 39 0374 83541.
- 2 [link not working]B&B Molino Antico, Via Fabio Filzi 1, ☎ 39 334 8187986, @[email protected].
Safety
- 4 Carabinieri (Station command), Via Milano, 32, ☎ 39 0374 85090.
Pharmacies
- 5 Bernelli, Via Giacomo Matteotti, 63, ☎ 39 0374 85520.
- 6 Municipal of Galliano, Via Largo Covi, 6.
- 7 Heirs Dr. Baccolo, via Tinelli 1, ☎ 39 0374 85622.
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 8 Italian post, via Francesco Galantino 13, ☎ 39 037485428, fax: 39 0374 83379.
Around
- Cream - Its Cathedral and the church of Santa Maria della Croce are the main reasons of interest; the city was for four hundred years in possession of the Serenissima, a period of which it retains many architectural influences and part of the Venetian walls.
- Pandino - The wonderfully preserved castle, rich in frescoes for which it is an almost unique example in Lombardy, makes Pandino an important tourist destination in the Cremasco and of the whole region.
- Caravaggio - Known above all as a center of faith, its Sanctuary is one of the most popular in the region and one of the most monumental.
- Orzinuovi - Center on the Oglio, it was opposed as a stronghold to Soncino on the opposite shore. It has remains of fortifications, the castle, and a beautiful square with a Venetian flavor, a legacy of the domination of the Republic of Venice.
- Castelleone - Populous center with a well-known sanctuary, its most famous monument is in the church of Santa Maria in Bressanoro.
Itineraries
- Soncino is part of the Strada del Gusto Cremonese in the land of Stradivari, a route of food and wine tourism promotion, about 560 kilometers long and recognized by the Lombardy Region, which winds through the province of Cremona on a territory of 115 municipalities, including: Rivolta d'Adda, Spino d'Adda, Cremona, Cream, Castelleone, Soresina, Casalbuttano, Robecco d'Oglio, Pescarolo and United, Dovarese Island, Piadena, Torricella del Pizzo, Rivarolo del Re is Casalmaggiore.
- Via Carolingia - European itinerary that crosses the places traveled by the court of Charlemagne between the 8th and 9th centuries to travel from Aachen to Rome, where Pope Leo III crowned the Carolingian sovereign emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on Christmas night in the 19th century.
