Overview
The Fodri family was one of the most powerful Cremonese merchant dynasties of the Sforza era, and their representative Benedetto, was a cultured humanist intellectual. We can easily imagine that the elegance of their palace, built in the city between the late 15th and early 16th century, depended as much on the expertise of the engineers in charge (the local De Lera family) as on the refined influence of the customer. The marble portal and terracotta friezes on the façade already stand out, but what really gets the mobile phone cameras rolling is the trapezoidal courtyard, with porticoes on three sides and terracotta decoration. The protective eaves help preserve the frescoes, which date back to the time of construction.
To reach Palazzo Fodri from Piazza del Comune you can take Via Mercatello behind the cathedral, then turn right along Corso Mazzini and Corso Matteotti. If you take Via Gerolamo da Cremona instead of Corso Matteotti, you come to the former Church of San Lorenzo and the Archaeological Museum, with excavated finds from the Roman city, everyday objects from those times, fragments of sculptures, statues and mosaics. The museum is one of the few in the world that can accommodate not only visually impaired and blind people but also people with intellectual disabilities. In fact, there should be no limits to courtesy.
Over in Via Speciano, the Church of the Santissima Trinità still displays its 14th-century origins, and its interior preserves mediaeval frescoes and works in wood from the 17th and 18th century. In the middle months of the year, and preferably at weekends, the visit is organised by volunteers from the Italian Touring Club in one of the 'Aperti per Voi' (Open for You) initiatives.
