Even if its name makes you think of a tower, the Torrazzo in Crema is a monumental door that divides Piazza Duomo from Via XX Settembre.
This door, built in substitution of a more modest entrance to defend the primitive citadel, presents the stylistic features of the Lombard Renaissance architecture of the early sixteenth century with some references to the late fifteenth century in the brickwork.
The side that overlooks Piazza Duomo has two statues in the niches at the sides of the balcony (on the left St. Pantaleone and on the right St. Vittoriano), while in the central square you can see the coat of arms of Crema inserted in a small temple.
At the top there is the clock made in 1555 and in the lantern there is still the bell that announced, already in 1594, the sessions of the City Council.
On the other hand, the side that faces via XX Settembre has one of the two Lions of San Marco present in the city under the balcony;
It was donated to Crema by Francesco II Sforza in 1525 and, like the Lion on the Guelph tower in Piazza Duomo, it too was scarred by the French in 1797.
A curiosity: the Torrazzo was the background of an important scene of the Oscar-winning film "Call me by your name" shot in Crema in 2016 by director Luca Guadagnino.
