Hi, Not much is mentioned in guidebooks about Cremona but it is the hub of violin-making. My 11 year-old son is a very dedicated violin player and has an interest in some day making violins. We will be visiting in March.
Does anybody have tips on what there is to see in Cremona? Are there any violin-makers who are willing to give tours of their operations? How much time should we allocate for a visit?
Thanks!
It must not be traveled to extensively, the forum on Tripadvisor is incredibly tiny, only a paragraph or two on Lonely Planet, a few paragraphs on Virtual Tourist.... You may need to do a really broad search and gather what you can. Is there a travel site related to music somewhere?
We had an apartment in Cremona for a week in 2008 and loved it. I am a (not very good) violinist, so I had some interest in the history. One museum is in the Palazzo del Comune, which also houses the tourist office on its first floor. It's directly opposite the Duomo and displays a number of instruments. Buy tickets from the bookshop on the right-hand side of the courtyard. Try to visit when one of the Stradivaris will be brought out and played. My (possibly outdated) info says this happens at 11:15 and 12:00 Monday-Saturday and also at 3:30 during the summer. The tourist office will know about this and they also supposedly have a list (according to Lonely Planet) of 100 violin-making workshops that can be visited and can advise on those where English is spoken. A second museum, Museu Civico "Ala Ponzone," 10 or 15 minutes by foot from the first, displays instruments by many of the famous early makers and also shows models, paper patterns, tools and acoustic diagrams from Stradivari's workshop. They show a video about violin-making which runs alternately in Italian and English. While there, we were also lucky enough to catch a wonderful concert at Cremona's lovely theatre (www.teatroponchielli.it). Have fun!
Wow, Janet thank you so much! I knew I could count on back door travelers for first hand knowledge. Sounds like it will be a worthwhile stop!
Afterthought: I think it's necessary to pay a small extra fee to hear the short recital at the Palazzo del Comune. One book also says they have to have at least 15 people before they'll offer it. I don't know how many tourists will be wandering around Cremona in March! Anyway, hopefully this will all be explained on their signage but, if not, be sure to ask about it.
