Soncino

A true open-air museum, away from stress and traffic, Soncino is the ideal town for everyone who wants to take a trip back to the past.

POPULATION

7.655

DENSITY

168,91 inhabitants/sq. Km

AREA

45,32 sq. km

ELEVATION

89 m a.s.l.

PATRON SAINT

San Martino

One of the most beautiful towns in Italy, Soncino is full of surprises and charm: a true trip back to the past. This is what you will see walking amidst the Rocca Sforzesca, the Civic Tower, the House of the Printers.

One of the most fascinating attractions is the thousand-year old Fortress. It was a defensive wall against the invasion of the Hungarians. Later the Cremonese and Milanese turned it into a bridgehead against the expansionism of Venice. With its walls and its four towers, the Rocca is considered the best preserved example of military architecture in all of Lombardy. From above, in addition to the panorama, you can easily see a very large yellow construction that stands out in the scenery: the former Meroni spinning mill, now the Silk Museum. It is a little gem, where it is possible to understand the complete cycle of the processing and breeding of silkworms.

The medieval section of the village of Soncino is made up of palaces decorated with terracotta friezes, with mills and an ancient path running along the Venetian walls that surround the city. It includes historical and artistic monuments such as the bell tower of the Pieve di S. Maria Assunta, the civic tower, the heptagonal tower of the church of S. Giacomo, the Rocca and, outside the walls, the church of S. Maria delle Grazie with frescos by Giulio Campi.

A "must visit" spot in Soncino is the House of Printers, where, in 1488, the first Hebrew Bible was printed. Here we can find some manual printing machines from the late 1800s and early 1900s on display.

Soncino also has a dense network of underground walls and Venetian walls that surround the medieval village. Among the religious buildings that are worth a visit there are: the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Church of San Giacomo.