Every city in Lombardy | Italia Magnifica

Every city in Lombardy

From the capital to the smallest borghi.

MilanThe capitalItaly's capital of fashion and finance, where the Duomo's marble spires rise over the Galleria's glass dome and La Scala raises the curtain each December. Leonardo's Last Supper survives in Santa Maria delle Grazie, and the Sforza Castle anchors a city that turns aperitivo on the Navigli into ritual.
AbbiategrassoA market town on the Naviglio Grande southwest of Milan, set among the rice fields and irrigated meadows of the Ticino plain. Its canal-side towpaths trace the old waterway that once carried marble to the Duomo.
BellagioThe Pearl of Lake Como, perched where the lake forks into its two southern branches. Steep stepped lanes climb between villas and gardens, and the Villa Melzi grounds run an English-style garden along the shore, ablaze with azaleas in spring.
BergamoA city of two halves, the lower town below and the walled Città Alta crowning its hill, reached by funicular. Up top, Piazza Vecchia and the Colleoni Chapel sit within six kilometers of Venetian ramparts that ring the skyline of towers.
BormioAn alpine town high in the upper Valtellina, prized for its downhill ski slopes and for thermal springs known since Roman times. It sits at the foot of the Stelvio pass, gateway to one of Europe's loftiest mountain roads.
BresciaLombardy's second city, layered from Roman temple to Lombard monastery. The Santa Giulia museum holds the gilded Winged Victory and Roman houses beneath its halls, while the Capitolium's reconstructed porch marks Vespasian's forum. Brescia is also the home of the Mille Miglia road race.
Busto ArsizioA busy town on the plain northwest of Milan, long a center of the Lombard textile and cotton industry. It lies in the Alto Milanese, the working heartland that links the city to the Varese pre-Alps.
Castiglione delle StiviereA town in the Mantuan hills, birthplace of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and tied to the founding story of the Red Cross, born after the nearby battle of Solferino. Its quiet streets sit on the soft moraine ridges that lift toward Lake Garda.
CernobbioAn elegant town on Lake Como's first basin, synonymous with Villa d'Este, the sixteenth-century villa turned grand hotel whose terraced gardens and floating pool draw visitors to the water's edge below Monte Bisbino.
Certosa di Pavia
ChiavennaA stone town where the alpine valleys of the Valchiavenna meet, north of Lake Como toward the Swiss passes. It is known for pizzoccheri and for its crotti, the natural rock cellars cooled by mountain drafts where locals age cured meats and cheese.
ComoThe lake's namesake city, set where the water meets the mountains at the southern end of the western branch. A center of fine silk weaving for centuries, Como pairs a Gothic cathedral and walled old town with a waterfront promenade and funicular to Brunate.
CremaA graceful town in the flat Cremasca countryside, set on the Serio amid canals and farmland. It is known for tortelli cremaschi, the sweet-savory pasta parcels filled with amaretti, raisins and candied citron unique to the area.
CremonaA city on the Po, the cradle of the violin, where Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri perfected their craft. The Violin Museum guards their originals, and the cathedral rises beside the Torrazzo, Italy's tallest brick bell tower, crowned by an astronomical clock.
Desenzano del GardaThe largest town on Lake Garda, set on the lake's sunny southern shore where the railway meets the water. Its old harbor and arcaded squares open onto the broad lower basin, and a Roman villa preserves fine mosaic floors.
GallarateA town on the plain near Malpensa airport, in the Varese pre-Alpine belt north of Milan. Long shaped by the textile trade, it sits among the rivers and heathland of the Alto Milanese.
Gardone RivieraA genteel resort on Lake Garda's western shore, best known for Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, the theatrical hillside estate where the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio assembled his house, gardens and a beached warship into a monument to himself.
IseoA market town on the southern shore of Lake Iseo, the least crowded of the great Lombard lakes. It looks out at Monte Isola, the largest lake island in Italy, rising green from the middle of the water.
LeccoA city on the eastern branch of Lake Como, ringed by the sheer limestone faces of the Grigne and Resegone. It is the setting of Manzoni's novel The Betrothed, and a launching point for climbers and lakeside walks alike.
Leggiuno
LegnanoAn industrial town on the Olona river northwest of Milan, remembered for the 1176 Battle of Legnano, where the Lombard League turned back the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The victory is relived each spring in the Palio di Legnano.
Limone sul GardaA village wedged between cliff and water on Lake Garda's western shore, long famed for the terraced lemon houses (limonaie) that climb the slope above the harbor. A lakeside path links it to the rest of the Riviera dei Limoni.
LivignoA high alpine resort tucked in a remote valley near the Swiss border, famous for duty-free shopping and a long ski season. Its altitude and snow-sure pistes draw skiers and summer cyclists to one of Italy's loftiest inhabited valleys.
LodiA small city on the Adda southeast of Milan, at the heart of the dairy country that supplies the region's cheese and butter. Its Renaissance heart centers on a porticoed main square and the octagonal sanctuary of the Incoronata.
LovereA handsome lakeside town at the northern tip of Lake Iseo, its tight medieval lanes opening onto an arc of waterfront promenade beneath wooded mountains. One of the recognized borghi più belli d'Italia.
Magreglio
MantuaA Renaissance city ringed by three lakes of the Mincio, shaped over centuries by the Gonzaga court. Their Ducal Palace runs to five hundred rooms and hides Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi, while Giulio Romano's Palazzo Te stages the tumbling Fall of the Giants.
MenaggioA lively resort on Lake Como's western shore, set where the road to Lake Lugano branches off and the central basin opens toward Bellagio. Its lakefront promenade and ferry pier make it a favorite base for exploring the lake.
MonzaA city north of Milan known worldwide for its Formula 1 circuit in the royal park, and for the Royal Villa, the Habsburg summer palace by Piermarini. Its cathedral guards the Iron Crown of Lombardy and Theodelinda's frescoed Lombard chapel.
PaviaA historic university city on the Ticino, its ancient atheneum among Europe's oldest. Just north stands the Certosa di Pavia, the Carthusian monastery whose lavish marble facade and Visconti tombs crown the surrounding rice plain, while the covered Ponte Coperto spans the river to Borgo Ticino.
Perledo
SabbionetaA Renaissance ideal city built whole on the Po plain to one prince's design by Vespasiano Gonzaga. Within its star-shaped walls stand the Teatro all'Antica and a grid of palaces, a complete vision of perfect urban order.
SarnicoA lakeside town at the southern end of Lake Iseo, where the Oglio river leaves the lake. Its waterfront mixes a medieval core with Liberty-style villas, and its boatyards have long built fast wooden launches for the lake.
SaronnoA town on the plain north of Milan, known the world over for amaretto, the almond liqueur, and its crisp amaretti biscuits. Its Renaissance sanctuary holds a celebrated frescoed dome by Gaudenzio Ferrari.
SeriateA town on the Serio river just east of Bergamo, on the plain where the foothills give way to the open Lombard countryside. It sits within easy reach of Bergamo's walled upper town.
SirmioneA spa town on a slender peninsula reaching into Lake Garda, entered across a drawbridge into the moated Scaliger Castle. At the peninsula's tip lie the Grotte di Catullo, the sprawling ruins of the largest Roman villa in northern Italy, set among ancient olive trees.
SondrioThe capital of the Valtellina, set in the broad alpine valley of the Adda below terraced slopes. It is the heart of Valtellina wine country, where steep, stone-walled terraces ripen the Nebbiolo grape into mountain reds.
TiranoA town in the Valtellina where the Bernina Express begins its climb, the red railway that crosses the Alps to St. Moritz on a line listed by UNESCO. It sits among the terraced vineyards that produce Valtellina's mountain Nebbiolo reds.
TreviglioA market town on the plain between Bergamo and Milan, an old crossroads of canals and railways in the fertile Bassa Bergamasca. Its historic center keeps a frescoed sanctuary and arcaded streets.
VarennaA picture-book village on Lake Como's eastern shore, its pastel houses stacked above a tiny harbor and joined by the lakeside walk. Villa Monastero, a former Cistercian convent, trails a two-kilometer botanical garden along the water.
VareseA garden city set among lakes and pre-Alpine hills north of Milan, long a retreat of grand Liberty-style villas. Above it climbs the Sacro Monte, the UNESCO-listed pilgrim path of frescoed chapels rising to a hilltop sanctuary.
VigevanoA town in the Lomellina rice country southwest of Milan, built around the Piazza Ducale, one of Italy's most harmonious Renaissance squares, laid out under the Sforza. It later grew into a capital of Italian shoemaking.