Casalmaggiore

Casalmaggiore stands beside the Po in the Cremona plain, where the river shifts across broad gravel bars and floodplain fields. Bronze Age remains show occupation long before written records. The name probably derives from a Roman military camp, Castra Majora.

Around the year 1000 a fortified castle belonged to the House of Este. Its position gave access to boats travelling the Po and roads across the Cremona plain. In the fifteenth century Casalmaggiore came under Venice, entering a network of river commerce, fortifications and territorial defense between Milan and the Venetian mainland.

An imperial decree recognized the town as a city in 1754, recording an older urban role. Markets handled grain, cheese, hemp and river transport, while floods repeatedly changed the banks. The town’s identity comes from the Po crossing and the strategic river corridor of Lombardy.