Placed on the top of a little hill called "Colle Eghezzone", along the right bank of the River Adda, Lodi binds its origins to the destruction of the Roman "Laus Pompeia".
It was founded on 3rd August 1158 by Frederick I of Swebia caIled Barbarossa (the Red Beard) and deveIoped both thanks to this great Emperor and his grandson FredericK II.
At the very beginning a ghibelline centre, Lodi joined, in 1167, the Lega Lombarda (Lombard League) taking part (1176) in the battIe of Legnano.
From 1251 on a Iot of Signorie (nobIe families) followed the one to the other in the rule of the town: Vistarini, Torriani, Visconti, Fissiraga, and Vignati, who joined Lodi to Piacenza.
However, in the XVth century the town was absorbed in the Dukedom of MiIan and was involved in the battles that Mjlan fought against the Republic of Venice. During Renaissance a lot of important historical events took place:
in 1413 Anti-Pope John and Emperor Sigismund summoned the future Council of Costance just from Lodi; on 9th April 1454, at the Castle situated in Porta RegaIe- the Iocal seat of Count Francesco Sforza the Italian regional States signed the famous Treaty of Lodi (Pace di Lodi), which guaranteed 40 years of political stability.
In the centuries to come, Lodi suffered the Spanish, Austrian and French dominations.
In the well-known battle on Lodi on 10th May 1796 by the Bridge of Lodi, Napoleon defeated the Austrian Marshall Beaulieu his first step towards the conquest of MiIan.
Lodi is also the hometown of very important and successful people such as the humanist Maffeo Vegio (d. 1558), the musician Franchino Gaffurio (d. 1522), thc Piazzas, a famous dynasty of painters; who lived in the XVth century, Francesco De Lemene (d. 1704), a poet and famous playwright, author of the comedy -written using the local dialect - "Sposa Francesca (Bride Francesca), Agostino Bassi (d. 1856) a scientist who, as a true pioneer, studied microbiology, and Iast but not least the poetess Ada Negri (d. 1945).
The old city centre shows an astonishingly well-balanced town-planning pattern together with streets and monuments blending harmoniously: it is worth visiting its churches, historical buildings and peculiar museums, its houses with their wrought-iron balconies and railings, which enclose picturesque and cosy yards while public gardens open onto the country. Everything echoes ancient legends and historical deeds.
Piazza della Vittoria, untouched by the time, unaltered by man, is a superb example of grandiose medieval architecture (platea mayor). Here, and in the streets nearby, you cau perceive the true value and taste of life in a small town which is able to renew itself without any excess and without missing its original identity.

The Cathedral
It is one of the largest Romanic Cathedrals jn lombardy.
Begun in 1160, ended in the XVIth century, it was completely restored between 1958 and 1965. Its bricked facade is enriched with
the presence (in the Protiro) of two lions bearing columns and a huge but magnificent portaI and two windows dating back to the Renaissance.
The inside is composed of three naves. But while the main nave is single-spanned, the little ones are bi-spanned. In the Chapels and on the side walls very important frescoes and paintings (XV-XVIIth centuries) can be admired; in the crypt, in an altar, wrought in the last century, the relics of San Bassiano, the Saint Patron of the town, are kept.
Following the stairway on the Ieft of the Presbiterium one can enter, leaving the Cathedral, theMuseo Diocesano d'Arte Sacra (Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art), wich houses paintings, statues and sacred furnishings from the Cathedral itself.

Chiesa di San Lorenzo (sec. XII)
E' in stile romanico lombardo, successivamente rimaneggiata.
L'interno è a tre navate, l'abside è decorato con affreschi di CaIlisto Piazza (1538) e stucchi di Antonio Abbondio detto il Tamagnino (1565). Nella seconda cappella a sinistra vi è una tela di Bernardino Campi.

Chiesa di Sant'Agnese (sec. XIV)
Presenta una facciata con al centro un frontone rialzato ed è divisa in tre scomparti da semicolonne in laterizio.
Il portale é impreziosito da scudeIle e formelle in maiolica.
NeIl'interno a tre navale con volte a crociera segnaliamo, nel primo altare a destra, un grande polittico di Alberto Piazza.

Chiesa di San Francesco (sec. XIII)
La chiesa, in stile romanico gotico, costruita nel decennio che va dal 1280 al 1290, presenta una facciata incompleta del fastigio del tetto a capanna.
Nel comparto centrale, distinto da due semicolonnine in laterizio, si trova un rosone mormoreo. Ai lati si trovano un'alta monofora e una bifora a "tutto cielo", un particolare Iodigiano studiato per dare leggerezza alla struttura frontale (lo si ritrova nella Basilica dei 12 Apostoli di Lodi Vecchio). Nell'interno a croce latina a tre navate,
è possibile ammirare sui grossi piloni affreschi dei secoli XIV e XV.
Vi si trovano le tombe di alcuni personaggi illustri lodigiani, fra i quali la poetessa Ada Negri.
Si consiglia di visitare, nei pressi, il chiostro dell'Ospedale Maggiore del 1437 con un elegante portico, colonne in pietra e loggiato; al centro, un pozzo.
Chiesa di San Filippo (sec. XVll -XVIII)
La chiesa è un piacevole esempio di tardo barocco, le cui linee esaltano il movimento ascensionale della struttura; il campanile è rimasto incompiuto. Nell'interno della sala si possono ammirare affreschi del XVII e XVIII secolo.
Del compIesso fanno parte il Museo Civico del 1869 e la Biblioteca Comunale Laudense eretta dai Filippini e resa pubblica nel 1792.

Palazzo Barni (sec. XVII) via XX Settembre.
E' in stile barocco, con lesene che dividono simmetricamente la facciata. AI centro un grande portale sormontato da un prezioso balcone in ferro battuto.

Palazzo Vistarini (sec. XIV) piazza della Vittoria.
La famiglia Vistarini fu tra le più importanti del territorio e per un lungo periodo segnò le sorti della città. La facciata del palazzo è in mattoni, aperta da monofore; il porticato sottostante è caratterizzato da archi acuti.

Palazzo Vescovile (sec. XVIII) entrata da Piazza Mercato o via Cavour
Sorto unitamente alla Cattedrale, fu oggetto di continui interventi di rifacimento.
Nella forma attuale risale alla sistemazione dell'architetto Veneroni (sec. XVIII)
Di particolare bellezza il cortile attorniato da colonne binate.

Palazzo Mozzanica (sec. XV) angolo via XX Settembre con Via Volturno
La facciata in cotto è divisa orizzontalmente da una fascia in terracotta. Il portale è in pietra, con colonne a candelabro ornate di fiori e ghirlande.

Si segnalano inoltre:
Palazzo Villani -sec. XVI (via Garibaldi);
Palazzo Sommariva -sec. XII (Corso Roma);
Palazzo Modignani -sec. XVIII (Via XX Settembre, angolo Corso Roma);
Palazzo Galeano –sec. XVII (Corso Umberto).

The Incoronata Civic Temple
It was buil in 1488, following the planning of Giovanni Battaggio and it is, without any doubts, one of the masterpieces of Lombard Renaissance. The Civic temple is an octagon, around which two different architectonic orders run: a first order, with, the little colunms and pendentives, and a second order, with the arched, women's gallery, with little blue and golden columns.
Finally, its dome is lit by the light that filters through round windows. The Temple was painted "a-fresco" by the skilful artisans Giovanni and Matteo dalla Chiesa from Pavia; later on, since 1514, the Piazzas had been working to complete the magnificent jewel. That is why in 1989 Lodi devoted a successful exhibition to this family of painters. We should even remember the 4 paintings by Ambrogio da Fossano called Bergognone, the most remarkable of which is undoubtedly the "Annunciation".
AIso of great interest, the carved wooden choir by Carlo Antonio Lanzani and the Organ (1507) by Lorenzo da Lucca, whose frame was carved in golden wood by Daniele and Leonardo Gamberino.
Next to the Temple is the Sacristy (XVIIth century) with its carved wardrobes, by the famous artisan Antonio Rotta.
Leaving the once "Monte di Pietà (Pawnshop) and today lnstitute of Music "Franchino Gaffurio", you get the Museum of the Treasure of the TempIe: here perfectly conserved -are kept the church ornaments, left or given as presents to the Civic Temple.

Mozzanica Palace (XVth cent.): on the corner between Via XX Settembre and Via Volturno. The terracotta facade horizontally divided by a string course.
The stone portaI is subdivided by candeIabrum coIumns, decorated with flowers and wreathes.

Saint Mary Magdalene Church (XVIIIth century):vaulted Baroque building. It ìs worth visiting the Cross said miraculous (XVth cent.).

St. Lawrence Church (XIl th cent.): a Roman lombard building in origin, later altered, its inside is a theree- naved structure and the apse is decoraded with frescos by the Piazza Brothers (1538) while the stuccos were wrought by Antonio said Tamagnino (1565). ln the second chapel, on the left, there is painting by Bernardino Campi.

St. Agnes Church (XIII th cent.): on its facade, divided into three parts by erickcd demi-columns, there is a frontispiece. The portal is enriched with majolica tiles.
The inside is three-naved with a cross vault and -on the right- on the first altar- there is a huge polipych by Alberto Piazza.

St. Francis Church (XIII th cent.): a Roman Gothic building (1280}-1290), it has an un completed facade. In its central part there is a marbled whell window. The mullioned window with two lights is calIed "a tutto cielo" (open space), a particular Lodigian architectonic invention which lightens the structure of the facade itself. Its inside has a three-naved Latin -cross plan and on the huge pillars you can admire frescos da thing back to XIV th and XVth centuries. Here there are the tombs of some very illustrious people who were born or lived in Lodi, among whom it is worth mentioning the poetes Ada Negri. Nearby, there is the Ospedale MaggioreCloister (1437) rich in an elegant portico, stone columns and an open gaIlery: in the middle of il there is a weIl.

St. Philip Chnrch (XVII-XVIII th cent.) : a fine example of late Baroque, whose lienes exalt the ascensional movement of the structure. lts bel tower has been left incompIete. In its inside it is possible to admire frescos of the XVII th and XVIII th cent. The Civic Museum (1869) and the Public Municipal Library form part of this church.

Barni Palace (XVllth eenl.)Via XX Settembre: a Baroque building with pilasters symmetrically dividing its facade. In the middle a huge portal ,surmounted by a precious balcony in wrought iron.

Vistarini Palace (XIV th cent.) Victoria Square: the Vistarini family (one of the most important nobIe families in Lodi) for a long time linked its name with the Iot of the town; the facade of the building is in bricks and is enriched with one-light windows; the portico is characterized by pointed arches.

The Palace of the Bishop (XVIII the cent.): you can enter from the MarketSquare or Via Cavour. It was built together with the Cathedral but altered in the course of the centuries: the present structure of the whole building is due the architect Veneroni (XVIII th cent.).

Also worth visiting:
Villani Palace XV th cent. (Via Garibaldi);
PaIazzo Sommariva XVII th cent. (Corso Roma); Palazzo Modignani XVIII th cent. (on the corner between Via XX Settembre and Corso Roma);
Palazzo Galeano XVlI th cent. (Corso Umberto)