Lodi, Lombardy

Lodi
Comune
Comune di Lodi
Piazza della Vittoria
Flag Coat of arms
Lodi Location of Lodi in Italy
Coordinates: 45°19′N 9°30′E / 45.317°N 9.500°ECoordinates: 45°19′N 9°30′E / 45.317°N 9.500°E
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Lodi (LO)
Frazioni	Fontana, Olmo, Riolo, San Grato
Government
• Mayor	Simone Uggetti (PD)
Area
• Total	41 km^2 (16 sq mi)
Elevation	87 m (285 ft)
Population (30 November 2012)[1]
• Total	43,325
• Density	1,100/km^2 (2,700/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Lodigiani or Laudensi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	26900
Dialing code	0371
Patron saint	St. Bassianus
Saint day	January 19
Website	Official website

Lodi (Italian: [ˈlɔːdi]; Lombard: Lòd) is a city and comune in Lombardy, northern Italy, on the right bank of the River Adda. It is the capital of the province of Lodi.

History

The Battle of Lodi, by Louis-François, Baron Lejeune.

Lodi was a Celtic village; in Roman times it was called in Latin Laus Pompeia (probably in honour of the consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo) and was known also because its position allowed many Gauls of Gallia Cisalpina to obtain Roman citizenship. It was in an important position where a vital Roman road crossed the River Adda.

Lodi became the see of a diocese in the 3rd century and its first bishop, Saint Bassianus (San Bassiano) is the patron saint of the town.

A free commune around 1000, it fiercely resisted the Milanese, who destroyed it in 1111. The old town corresponds to the modern Lodi Vecchio. Frederick Barbarossa rebuilt it on its current location in 1158.

Starting from 1220, the Lodigiani (inhabitants of Lodi) spent some decades in realising an important work of hydraulic engineering: a system of miles and miles of artificial rivers and channels (called Consorzio di Muzza) was created in order to give water to the countryside, turning some arid areas into one of the most important agricultural areas of the region, even up to today.

Starting from the 14th century Lodi was ruled by the Visconti family, who built a castle here. In 1423, the antipope John XXIII launched the bull by which he convened the Council of Constance from the Duomo of Lodi. The council would mark the end of the Great Schism.

In 1454 representatives from all the regional states of Italy met in Lodi to sign the treaty known as the peace of Lodi, by which they intended to work in the direction of Italian unification, but this peace lasted only 40 years.

The town was then ruled by the Sforza family, France, Spain and Austria. In 1786 it became the eponymous capital of a province that between 1815 and 1859 would have included Crema.

On 10 May 1796, in the first major battle of his career as a general, the young Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Lodi. In the second half of the 19th century, Lodi began to expand outside the city walls, boosted by economic expansion and the construction of a network of railway lines that followed the reunification of Italy.

Main sights

Church of the Beata Vergine Incoronata (view of the interior),

• Piazza della Vittoria, listed by the Italian Touring Club among the most beautiful squares in Italy.^[2] Featuring porticoes on all its four sides, it includes the Basilica della Vergine Assunta and the Broletto (town hall).
• Piazza Broletto, with a Verona marble baptismal font dating to the 14th century.
• Beata Vergine Incoronata: Church in style of Lombard Renaissance.
• San Francesco - Gothic-style church built in 1280-1307.
• San Lorenzo: church with frescoes by Callisto Piazza.
• Santa Maria Maddalena : Baroque church. The original Romanesque structure (1162) was replaced in the 18th century. The interior has frescoes by Carlo Innocenzo Carloni and a Deposition attributed to Robert De Longe.
• Sant'Agnese church in Lombard Gothic style (14th century). It includes the Galliani Polyptych by Albertino Piazza (1520), and has, on the façade, a rose window decorated with polychrome majolica.
• San Filippo : Rococo-style church
• Palazzo Vescovile (Bishopric Palace), of medieval origin but rebuilt in the 18th century.
• San Cristoforo: church designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi.
• Visconti Castle (Torrione), a medieval castle now partially destroyed.
• Palazzo Mozzanica (15th century)
• Torre di lodi a modern building high 70 meters about, under renovation. It's collocated in the Business District, and it's the tallest building in the city.
• Business District is a modern place. There are many high-rise buildings, the tallest are Torre di Lodi (70 m), Lodi Hotel (32 m) and via Hausmann Residential (36 m). Also there are Lombardy Region Office and the mall called My Lodi.
• Corso Roma, a commercial street, the most important of the city.
• Adda Riverside.

Economy

In 1864 Tiziano Zalli founded the Banca Popolare di Lodi, the first Italian cooperative bank (now part of Banco Popolare group).

In 1945, the Italian petrol company Agip, directed by Enrico Mattei, started extracting methane from its fields, and Lodi was the first Italian town with a regular domestic gas service.

In Lodi there is the headquarters of 'Zucchetti', in Lodi Tower. Zucchetti is a company specialized in Information Technology.

In the city is situated the headquarters of 'Erbolario'.

Twin cities

• Constance, Germany
• Lodi, California, United States
• Omegna, Italy.
• Fontainebleau, France.

References

1. Population data from Istat - Italian Institute of Statistics
2. - (2004). Piazze d'Italia. Milan: Touring Club Italiano. ISBN 88-365-3498-8.

• Agnelli, Giovanni (1917). Lodi ed il suo territorio nella storia, nella geografia e nell'arte. Lodi.
• Bassi, Agenore (1977). Storia di Lodi. Lodi: Edizioni Lodigraf. ISBN 88-7121-018-2.