Must see attractions in Central Lombardy

For more than 300 years the enormous Palazzo Ducale was the seat of the Gonzaga – a family of wealthy horse breeders who rose to power in the 14th century…

You could spend a whole day in this monster of a museum housed in an ex-monastery and still have plenty left for another visit. Those with limited time…

Cremona’s history echoes to sound of violins and violin-making, meaning a visit to this relatively new, state-of-the-art museum is practically obligatory…

Just east of the old city walls is one of Italy's great art repositories. Founded in 1780, it contains an exceptional range of Italian masters. Raphael's…

Bergamo's colossal, square-based Torre del Campanone soars 52m above the city. It still tolls a bell at 10pm, the legacy of an old curfew. Taking the lift…

Palazzo Te was where Frederico II Gonzaga escaped for love trysts with his mistress Isabella Boschetti, and it's decorated in playboy style with stunning…

On the northwest side of Piazza Vecchia, the fresco-dappled Palazzo del Podestà was traditionally home to Venice's representative in Bergamo. Today, the…

The Upper Town's beating heart is the cafe-clad Piazza Vecchia, lined by elegant architecture that is a testament in stone and brick to Bergamo's long and…

Welcome to an ecclesial colossus. Cremona’s cathedral started out as a Romanesque basilica, but the simplicity of that style later gave way to an…

About halfway between Darfo and Edolo, the Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri is a 30-hectare open-air museum containing rock engravings that date…

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…

Brescia’s impressive archaeological complex cleverly reconstructs the city’s Roman past from fragments first discovered in the 1820s. It consists of three…

Cremona's 111m-tall torrazzo (bell tower, although 'torrazzo' translates literally as ‘great, fat tower’) is the third tallest brick bell tower in the…

Bergamo's most striking church, begun in 1137, is quite a mishmash of styles. To its whirl of Romanesque apses (on which some external frescoes remain…

Monte Isola towers from the south end of Lake Iseo, making it easily the lake's most intriguing feature. It's Europe's largest lake island, at 4.28 sq km,…

The most compelling of all Brescia's religious monuments is the 11th-century Duomo Vecchio, a rare example of a circular-plan Romanesque basilica, built…

Easily usurping Mantua's cathedral, this towering basilica safeguards the golden vessels said to hold earth soaked by the blood of Christ. Longinus, the…

Pizzighettone's big attraction is its well-preserved rampart wall, which still encircles its small historic centre. The walls were designed in the 12th…

One of several towns in Italy with an intact ring of defences, Bergamo’s impressive walls were built by the Venetians over 30 years starting in 1561…

Set in the spacious halls of the Palazzo Affaitati, Cremona's finest art gallery houses an exquisite collection of paintings dating from the 15th to the…