You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
with still more churches
We've just been across the river Adda to see the famous Cattedrale Vegetale, and now we're heading back up the hill to visit the Chiesa di San Francesco. We just need to stop off at the yarn shop for a while.
Look, our Palazzo Mozzanica -- it's almost like being famous.
Back to the Church of St Francis in the Hospital Square, which surely must be open by now! The "open-sky" windows at the top of the façade, by the way, started a trend; we recently noticed the same thing in Crema and realized that it must have been a 'thing'. Or a 'meme'.
The Italian Gothic, Franciscan-style church was built between 1280 and 1290, commissioned by the Bishop of Lodi Bongiovanni Fissiraga. The brick façade is unfinished. (That's a restored front of the 15th century original hospital in the background.)
An amazing interior -- a Latin cross with a nave and two aisles, and with 14th to 16th frescoes on the walls and all over the columns.
It's a bit of a guessing game as to who these saintly people are, with no answers provided. They're all waving the martyrs' palm, that doesn't help.
This guy, with his faithful dog at his feet, was seldom invited to after-work parties.
We can guess who that is.
Hmmm. Saint Elizabeth and Virgin Mary? Saint Anne and Mary? Elizabeth and Anne?
We've got side chapels as well.
Amongst the noteworthy dead people interred here is Antonio Fissiraga, but which one?
Reminiscent of Qin Shi Huang's terracotta army, with tonsures
Is Fissiraga in there? Probably -- we've been instructed to look for a 14th century picture of 'Madonna with Child, Saints and Antonio Fissiraga', and that kneeling donor is presenting a building to Jesus. It was Antonio's financing that helped his (probably) uncle Bongiovanni the Bishop get this church built.
The altar. We've also got Ada Negri (1870-1945) interred here somewhere, a poet described as 'a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature' who seems to have had some bad press from accepting Fascist Party accolades.
A side aisle
That's probably meant to be St Peter Martyr (St Peter of Verona), the energetic Dominican heretic hunter, very famous, who in 1252 was assassinated by two hitmen hired by Milanese Cathar heretics. He became a saint in 1253, the 'fastest canonization in papal history'. But he's usually shown with his signature machete planted in his head, so perhaps that's just some other saint with a machete. The legend above is mostly illegible.
Peace be with you.
That's it for today. Off for dinner at another local restaurant, not the Caffé Vistarini; big mistake.
It's a rainy 22 February, which we're declaring a 'rest day'. This is the Corso Roma, and the street market's on.
The street market is obviously going to take some of us a little time, so first we'll find the Romanesque Chiesa di San Lorenzo.
Passing the Caffé Vistarini, promising ourselves not to dine elsewhere ever again.
The Church of San Lorenzo, or St Lawrence, a.k.a. the Parrocchia San Lorenzo Martire in Lodi, on Garibaldi Street.
The Romanesque church was begun in 1159 and is still active.
St Rocco and his faithful dog are everywhere!
The 'Resurrected Christ' in the hemisphere over the apse is by Callisto Piazza. Callisto's everywhere, too.
Views of the altar
Is that . . . ? In the background niche?
Is that another San Rocco? Who else would be showing off his buboes?
Inspirational statues hovering over the choir
A bit odd: the original capital seems to have been plastered over.
Madonna and child with St Anne? Or St Elizabeth? What's wrong with this picture?
Where'd that arm come from?!?
The tower of the San Lorenzo church, on the Via Giuseppe Garibaldi
The Chiesa di Sant'Agnese, an Augustinian church from the 14th century, and Kristin -- who in fact is on the march back to the street market in the Piazza della Vittoria, or Piazza Maggiore, whilst I will descend into the former swamps of the Selvagreca district, where lie the free street parking zones, to see if our cute little Volvo is holding up okay in our absence.
On the Via Paolo Gorini (named after the cadaver guy) and the Piazza Zaninelli, we're at the former Cremonese Gate, the city gate facing towards Crema and Cremona.
And on the same piazza, this is the Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie, built here in 1674 in honor of a 'miraculous image' that was brought here in a 'solemn procession'.
In general, there's not too much to detain us from our rush in the drizzling rain to the free streetside parking down the hill. That's probably the 'miraculous image' up there behind the altar, but whatever the backstory on that may be, we haven't heard it yet.
Except, of course, there is this rather remarkable piece of performance art.
How to sell more burgers and pizza
Our cute little Volvo C30 seems perfectly happy where he is for the moment, and hopefully for the next few days.
Reunited near the street market, on the way home our party descends upon a specialty pasta shop. That's an in-shop exhibition of some of the pasta-making machinery.
Now for some of our newly acquired specialty pasta, from a master.
Next: Off to Milan -- first the Brera, then the Fortezza Sforza
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 20 March 2018. 
