Castelponzone

A rope stretched between the land and the river - that is how we might call Castelponzone, an ancient walled village who lost its walls, nested in the sleepy and placid Cremona countryside, once home to the flourishing business of rope making and trading.

POPULATION

390

ELEVATION

30 m a.s.l.

PATRON SAINTS

Santi Faustino e Giovita

A borough of Scandolara Ravara, recognized as one of the most beautiful hamlets in Italy, is an ancient fortified village built around the fortress at the beginning of the 14th century.

The fortress was demolished in the mid-nineteenth century and the moat was filled, leaving a small town with an "enclosed" urban structure with two access doors and very regularly-shaped blocks divided by main streets and side streets called "strettini " (narrow streets). The Sixteenth-century porticos are certainly the most distinctive architectural feature of Castelponzone: The porticos flow along on both sides of the main street from the South gate to the fortress and for centuries they housed countless busy and thriving workshops, the beating heart of the city along with the weekly market.
The porticos today house a wide range of events and celebrations under the charming, benevolent watch of their many arches.

The Museo dei Cordai (Ropemakers Museum) tells the tale of how the local economy bound to the farming and processing of hemp has represented the core of the village life for at least two centuries, profoundly shaping life and social relationships. The ropes were made with a simple and ingenious technology, based on the use of a large wheel and a grooved wooden tool used for the twisting the yarns. You can experience it directly at the museum.

In the Seventeenth century church of the village there is a valuable portrait of Saint Lucy by the Genovesino; outside the evocative urban perimeter stands the Chiesa Vecchia (Old Church)a wonderful example somewhere between the late Romanesque and the Lombard Gothic, dedicated to Our Lady Queen of Peace.