Palazzo del Comune di Cremona
Stand under the portico of the Palazzo del Comune and look up: 13th-century frescoes survive in the lunettes above your head, painted when this building was already the nerve centre of civic life in Cremona. The Lion of St. Mark peers down from one arch — a quiet reminder that Venice occupied this city for a decade around 1500, leaving its mark on the stonework before it left.
The palazzo sits directly across Piazza del Comune from the Duomo, occupying the block between the piazza, Piazza Stradivari, and Via Lombardini. It has been the seat of Cremona's city council since 1206, and it still is.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who've been before tend to head straight for the Sala dei Violini — a room inside a working town hall where instruments by the great Cremonese luthiers sit in cases — and then double back to the eastern courtyard, where the ogival porticoes and frescoed lunettes of 1506–08 reward a slower look than most visitors give them on the way through.
The story behind Palazzo del Comune di Cremona
Valerio Tommasino designed the original building in 1206, making it one of the oldest broletti — the medieval Italian form of a civic hall — in the region. By 1245 it had grown to three wings enclosing a courtyard, with a civic tower on the right holding two bells: one to call the council, one to announce fire or death.
Francesco Dattaro reworked the interior between 1568 and 1578, breaking a single great assembly hall into smaller rooms. The marble arengario — the public speaking platform projecting from the façade's central pilaster — had been added in 1507. The last major change came in 1838, when Cremona architect Luigi Voghera gave the façade its current face: large windows, pilasters, terracotta ornament, and a white marble band with corbels.
Good to know
Entry is free Monday through Saturday, 9:00–18:00; Sunday only for special events. Guided tours run €3 and last 90 minutes — worth it for the frescoed rooms. Skip days when municipal meetings are in session, as access is restricted. Closed 1 January, 1 May, 25 December.
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What travellers say about Palazzo del Comune di Cremona
Cremona is another city that I loved. Its Torrazzo is the tallest medieval tower in Italy and one of the tallest in Europe at 112.54 metres, something to behold! Full of history, cafes, nice restaurants and shops.
It was under construction but still good to see.
In this 2017 year it's open the second floor for turistic visit
13th palace, previously modified in classical style,and restored in its original style in 1840
For me it's all about the rich cultural heritage preserved here that fascinates me
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