Just about an hour trip by train from the central station of Milan , Cremona is worth devoting at least one day to stroll around the small streets and the magnificent square of the Town hall and above all to pay a visit to the marvelous violin museum of the town . The modern statue set on the exterior of the museum preoccupied us in the mode of music. The dim light of the very successful illumination for the exhibited numerous violins made by Stradivarius and other craftsmen created a magic atmosphere. Seldom have we seen such an excellent presentation of the exhibited items in a museum.Very successful was the idea of the sound insulated wooden shell where one could hear and see on the screen famous artists interpreting marvelous violin sonatas.Unfortunately we had no the chance to hear and watch a violin recital with genuine Stradivarius violin.
Recently established, very well thought and constructed, a place not to miss in this special violin centre that is Cremona.
This is a heaven for any musician. It is in the heart of Cremona. It is the city of violins. You definitely have to go there. It is full of history and treasure. Fascinating!
Violin museum in the center of Cremona.No to be missed (unless you hate violins, violas, cellos, etc.).Lots of explanations.Display of recent and ancient violins (including some Stradivari's)
This is a museum devoted to what Cremona is legendary for--violins. While it sounds like a niche museum not likely to be interesting to the general public, the truth is quite the contrary. The museum is laid out in several stages including the history of violin-making, a marvelous interactive exhibit that shows in great detail all the steps involved in producing a violin (which allows you to speed up, back up, and turn a violin inside out), a 3-D map of old Cremona showing where the legendary violin-makers' shops were, recent efforts to sustain the violin-making art, and examples of current violins. But the two best parts are the "treasure chest", where some of the finest Stradivarius, Amati, and Guarneri instruments in the world are on display, and the audio chamber where you can hear master violinists play classical pieces on these treasured violins.
We spent a long time here. Be sure to pick up the very informative audio guide so you can listen to the instruments that you are viewing. I am not a musician and I loved this place. The bar downstairs has a great happy hour.
We included Cremona in our Italy trip planning - to visit the museum and see Stradivari's house. From Milan, its a nice short train ride The train journey was scenic and fantastic. You need to look for Trains to Montva as Cremona is a intermediate stopand not listed in the departure boards at Milano Centrale :-) The museum has the history of volin's evolution, exhibition of violins and movies showing the violin making. Violin's parts are explained well. There us a nice bookshop, We didnt goto violin bar. There was a 4 PM & 9 PM concert as part of the ongoing Stradivari festival. This is a very short walk from cremona railway station. Small town. Most shops had a violin as part of the display! We could take the 3:30 PM train back to Milan. Violin is one of the key instrument used in South Indian classical music - solo and accompaning - and domesticated :-) We liked the museum and the town
This museum featured violin making techniques, as well as, the history of violins. It also had wonderful displays of violins from world renown violin makers.
I'm neither a violinist nor a big expert in classical music, nevertheless I loved this place & spent there more time than planned. After seeing the whole, there were rooms that we visited again, because we just couldn't get enough.A fantastic place.Be sure to take the audio guide in your language. It allows you not only listen to the explanations, but also hear some of the instruments on display.Pure delight!
An amazing interactive museum...probably the best of its kind. Beautifully doneSorry we missed the concert!Priceless collection of stringed instruments...and all get played.