Road of San Colombano Wine
and the Food of Lodi

The Road of San Colombano Wine and the Food of Lodi is an itinerary of about 120 km, along which the discerning tourist is offered, just a short distance from Milan, a land brimming with splendid historic villages, villas and places where culture, art and history mingle and are enriched by a great variety of wines and typical local products. The tour starts in Milan, passes through Chiaravalle, where we find the famous

Cistercian Abbey founded in 1135, Sant’Angelo Lodigiano with its inte­resting museums, brushes San Colombano al Lambro and ends in Lodi. There are fascinating sites in the old town centres, like the sixteenth-century Chiesetta di San Rocco at San Colombano, an architectural gem based on an octagonal plan which is still in perfect condition. The San Colombano hill, on which the wine of the same name is produced, is a Pliocenic outcrop rich in fossil fauna, proving the ancient presence of the sea in the territory which is now called the Po Plain. The itinerary then takes us to Lodi, a town that has always been linked to Milan due to the presence of the Visconti, where we find a rich and varied artistic

heritage. The Duomo, one of the largest Romanesque style churches in Lombardy, features an asymmetrical façade due to the presence of the portal near the bell tower and it is embellished with sixteenth-century double-lancet windows and a rose-window. Nearby is the Church of San Francesco, with a high single-lancet window and two “open sky”

double-lancet windows that make the church façade less severe. The tour of the town ends with a visit to the Sanctuary of the Incoronata, built in 1488 and embellished with a nineteenth-century loggia. Inside, in the Chapel of San Paolo, are some fine paintings by Bergognone. The itinerary is enriched by the presence of several producers of local

specialities – there are picturesque wine-cellars and companies produ­cing cured meats and delicious cheeses. There are also rich and varied craft activities that have brought fame to the area, such as the ceramics produced in Lodi and the jewellery crafted in Graffignana