Lombardy · Cremona
Soncino
A walled borgo on the Oglio with the Sforza fortress of 1473 and the press that printed the first complete Hebrew Bible in 1488.
Known for
ROCCA SFORZESCA
Brick Sforza fortress of 1473-1475 with four corner towers and a high keep, one of the most intact Po-plain castles in Lombardy.
HEBREW BIBLE
The first complete printed Hebrew Bible was produced in Soncino in 1488 by a Jewish printing family who later took the town's name.
FREE BOROUGH
Declared a free borough in 1118, with masonry walls raised in the thirteenth century under Buoso da Duera.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Martino di Tours, 11 November
Why come
Soncino sits on the Oglio river at the meeting point of three provinces, Cremona, Brescia, and Bergamo. The town was declared a free borough in 1118 and its position on the Lombard frontier kept it militarized through the medieval centuries. The Rocca Sforzesca dates to 1473-1475: Galeazzo Maria Sforza built it from brick to a Visconti-Po-plain pattern, four corner towers and a high keep, raised in two years because the construction used almost no stonework.
It is one of the most intact Sforza fortresses in northern Italy. The other reason to come to Soncino is the press. In 1488, a family of Jewish printers in the town printed the first complete Hebrew Bible.
They later took the name Soncino from the town and dispersed across Europe, but the original house, the Casa degli Stampatori, still stands and now holds the printing museum. Inside the walls, the Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta and the frescoed Santa Maria delle Grazie hold the medieval and Renaissance heart of the borgo.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Soncino’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Rocca Sforzesca
Brick Sforza fortress built 1473-1475 by Galeazzo Maria Sforza, four corner towers and a high keep, one of the most intact in northern Italy.
Casa degli Stampatori
Home of the Jewish family who printed the first complete Hebrew Bible here in 1488; now the Museo della Stampa.
Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Late fifteenth-century church with the interior completely covered in frescoes from the Lombard Renaissance.
Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta
Medieval parish church at the heart of the centro storico, the religious center of the free borough from the twelfth century.
Cinta muraria di Soncino
Stretches of the masonry curtain wall raised in the thirteenth century under Buoso da Duera, partly preserved around the borgo.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Soncino fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Living here
- Population 7,490
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Milan, 44 min drive
- Regional capital Milano, 1 h 7 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 88 m
- Population: 7,490
- Surface area: 45.32 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
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