From Pavia, “the city of a hundred towers” to Milan and its stunning duomo, northern Italy’s Lombardy region has it all for travelers. Join food historian Francine Segan as she highlights the area’s cultural and artistic treasures and cuisine.
Glorious art abounds throughout Lombardy, including DaVinci’s fresco of the Last Supper in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan and Mantova's ducal palace with its cycle of frescoes by Mantegna. Architectural highlights of the region include one of the oldest medieval castles in Europe, Sant’Alessio, as well as the rococo façade of the charterhouse of Pavia (a Carthusian monastery) and Milan’s Lombard Gothic duomo .
Cremona is the birthplace of Stradivarius (and home to a violin museum) and Bergamo boasts a picturesque piazza. Pavia’s annual Palio del Ticino is a lavish Renaissance festival, with a boat race—in honor of the city’s 15th-century naval victory over the Venetian fleet—as its centerpiece.
Lombardy is rightly famous for its food and wine, with favorites including Franciacorta sparkling wine (Italy’s version of Champagne), risotto alla Milanese, zuppa alla Pavese, and agnolotti. Milan is a global center of both fashion and food, with more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other Italian city.
After the program, enjoy tastings including Calvisius caviar from Brescia and Grana Padano DOP cheese from the Po River valley. Wine generously donated by Ca' del Bosch.
