Road of San Colombano and the Wine and Food of Lodi

The Road of San Colombano and the Wine and Food of Lodi, has an itinerary that runs for around 120 km. Along this route, and just a short distance from Milan, the discerning tourist is offered 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 you will find the famous Cistercian Abbey founded in 1135, Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, with its interesting museums, then goes through San Colombano al Lambro and ends in Lodi. 

There are fascinating sites in many of 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, which proves there was an ancient presence of sea in the territory, which is now called the Po Plain. 

The itinerary then takes us to Lodi, a town forever linked to Milan because of 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’s embellished with sixteenth-century double-lancet windows and a rose window. Nearby

stands 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, that was built in 1488 and is embellished with a nineteenth-century loggia. Inside the Chapel of San Paolo, visitors will find 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 (Gorgonzola DOP, Taleggio DOP, Quartirolo DOP, Pannerone, Granone lodigiano, Raspadura, Crescenza, Italico, Mascarpone). At lunchtime visitors are obliged to order rice (risotto), one of the most well known specialties in the area.

To get here by car: A1 Milan-Lodi motorway; exits: Lodi, Casalpusterlengo, Piacenza nord; A21 Turin-Brescia motorway, exit: Castelsangiovanni. By train: FS Milan-Bologna, Milan and Lodi Stations.