|
| |
Comune di Crema
|
| |
Lombardy
|
| |
Cremona (CR)
|
| |
79
|
| |
34
|
| |
2001
|
| |
32,913
|
| |
968
|
| |
CET , UTC +1
|
| |
|
| |
Santo Stefano, Mosi, Vergonzana, Ombriano, Sabbioni, Santa Maria della Croce, San Carlo, Crema Nuova, Porta Nova, SS Trinità, San Bernardino, Castelnuovo, San Giacomo
|
| |
0373
|
| |
26013
|
| |
Cremaschi
|
| |
Saint Pantaleo
|
| |
June 10
|
| |
Claudio Ceravolo (since May 28 , 2002 )
|
| |
wwwcomunecremait
|
is a town in the province of
Cremona in the region of
Lombardy in northern
Italy . It is built along the river
Serio at 43 km from Cremona. It is also the seat of a
Catholic Bishop . Crema's main economic activities traditionally relate to agriculture and cattle breeding, but Its manufactures include now cheese, iron products and cotton and wool textiles. Inhabitants are called ''cremaschi'', singular ''cremasco''.
Crema's origins has been linked to the
Lombard invasion of
6th Century AD , the name deriving from the Lombard term ''Krem'' meaning "little hill". Other authorities put its foundation back to the
4th Century AD , when
Milan was capital of the
Western Roman Empire . According to another version, it was instead an even more ancient
Celt ic or
Etruscan settlement.
Crema first appears in historical documents in the
11th Century , as a possession of the counts of Camisano. It was then ruled by
Bonifacius marquis of
Tuscany and his daughter
Matilde . In
1098 , Matilde gave the town as a gift to the Bishop of
Cremona . During this period the prosperity of Crema's territory began as agriculture was boosted and the Humiliates' Order introduced the working of wool, which was to be the area's main economic activity till the
19th Century .
In
1159 , after it had made an alliance with
Milan against the
Ghibelline Cremona, Crema was besieged, stormed and destroyed by the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa . The siege of Crema was marked by several episode of brutality. The Germans hung some Cremaschi prisoners to their siege machines hoping the defenders would not fire against their fellows. However, this expedient did not work, and turned into a slaughter.
After the
Peace Of Constance (
1185 ) the city was allowed to be rebuilt as a ''castrum'' ("castle").
Henry VI give it back to his allied Cremonese. A period as a free commune followed, in which however the tendency to partisan struggles, typical of the Northern Italy communes of that age, soon showed. In any case, the city was reinforced with new walls, ditches and gates (
1199 ), and a network of canals further improved agriculture. In the
13th Century Crema was also enriched with its famous
Cathedral and the
Palazzo Pretorio .
The communal autonomy ended in
1335 , when the city surrendered to
Gian Galeazzo Visconti , whose family held the city until the end of the century. In
1361 Crema was touched by the
Black Death . A brief period of rule by the Guelph
Benzoni family followed (Bartolomeo and Paolo from
1403 to
1405 , then their nephew Giorgio until
1423 ). The seignory passed again to the Visconti, and, from
1449 onwards, to the
Republic Of Venice .
As a Venetian inland province, Crema obtained numerous privileges and was safe from the economic decline of the nearby
Duchy Of Milan under the Spanish rule. It kept a substantial autonomy, which permitted a program of new buildings. These included a new line of wall, the rebuilding of the
Palazzo Comunale (1525-1533), the Palazzo della Notaria, now
Palazzo Vescovile . In
1580 Crema became a diocese and built the new, splendid church of
Santa Maria Della Croce (
1490 ).
The
17th Century saw the beginning of the decadence of the city, caused by the fall of its industrial activities, although agriculture continued to flourish. In
1796 an Academy of Agriculture was founded. After the fall of the Serenissima in
1797 , the French army deposed the last podestà and created a municipality. At first Crema formed the province of Crema-Lodi, but later it was annexed to the province of Cremona. In
1814 , Napoleon’s Empire fell apart, and Crema became an
Austria n possession.
Crema was annexed to Italy in the
Risorgimento . Thenceforth it was a part of the Italian Kingdom and, after World War II, of the Italian Republic.
Crema gave birth to many illustrious people: the painters Civerchio, Buso and Urbino; the musicians Petrali,
Giovanni Bottesini , Benzi and Cavalli; the mathematician Vailati and the poet Pesadori.
According to documents held in the archives of the Diocese, Crema was also the town of origin of the Mastai Ferretti, the
Senigallian family of
Pope Pius IX .
Crema's main monuments include:
