By bike through the streets of Lodi

A bike ride amongst the Art Nouveau buildings in the beautiful town of Lodi. An easy and delightful ride, immersed in art and culture.

To enjoy an afternoon’s cycling in the open air, you don't always need to pedal for miles and get away from built-up areas: through the streets of Lodi (and elsewhere) you can rediscover the pleasure of cycling along at a leisurely pace, rediscovering some historical gems. Here is a short itinerary for a tour of the Liberty style in and around the provincial capital.

Casa Joli Riccardo
An irregularly-shaped palace, built around a vast, square courtyard. The entrance door of the Joli Riccardo residence is positioned slightly asymmetrically, whilst the counter-facade in the courtyard boasts a portico borne by masonry pillars. Worthy of note: right there in the inner courtyard, some traces of the round arches from the ancient convent on which the palace was built are still visible.
Address: Casa Joli Riccardo, Corso Adda, 23-3

Casa Biancardi
The next stop on our tour is very close-by, in Corso Umberto I. At number 55, you will find a red building featuring white-grey bas-reliefs framing the upper part of the windows. This is Casa Biancardi, whose main Liberty features are the balcony with its floral motifs and the load-bearing columns. Its predecessor in this location was the Coppellotti brothers' ceramics factory (destroyed by a fire in 1930) which produced objects decorated in the Old Lodi style. The decoration of the upper windows depicts female faces in concrete, framed by ribbons, flowers and leaves, whilst the top floor features geometric ornamentation.
Address: Casa Biancardi, Corso Umberto I, 55-57

Casa degli Angeli
A short distance from Casa Biancardi, in via Solferino 14, you can admire Casa degli Angeli. The building stands around a porticoed, rectangular courtyard and there are four floors on the front side, the topmost one being an open gallery. The facade of this house was completely redecorated in Liberty style during the first decade of the twentieth century.
Address: Casa degli Angeli, via Solferino 14

Casa Piontelli
From via Solferino the route continues along via Giuseppe Verdi taking us back to Corso Umberto to reach Via Fissiraga. Here you will find Casa Piontelli, a building richly ornamented with wrought iron railings, as well as leaves and horse chestnuts around the windows of the first two floors. The decoration also continues on the third and top floors, where the windows are embellished with two female faces.
Address: Casa Piontelli, Via Fissiraga, 1 - 3

Casa Arosio
Our Liberty cycle tour ends in Corso Roma. Amongst the various buildings, we advise you to take the time to admire Casa Arosio, one of the most elegant buildings in Lodi. The building was originally built to house the Cinema Mignon, designed by Piontelli, the engineer. On the facade you will notice various characteristic elements, such as the pictorial and sculptural floral decoration, the yellow, green and blue stained-glass windows, and the masks (probably heads of lions or fauns) accompanied by lyres, typical musical instruments of the muses. Lastly, the long balcony on the upper floor is decorated with roses in bas-relief on the lower corners, while the railing breaks with the naturalistic theme and appears to be almost abstract.
Address: Casa Arosio, Corso Roma, 96-98

Other Liberty monuments in the Lodi area
If you would like to explore other examples of Liberty architecture, including outside the city of Lodi, we recommend Villa Biancardi, situated in Zorlesco, close to Casalpusterlengo. The building, which stands in a large park, was commissioned in 1911 by Cavalier Serafino Biancardi from architect Gino Coppedè. The most characteristic element of the Villa is undoubtedly the belvedere tower. Another monument with the same name, by the same architect, was built in the historic centre of Codogno in 1907. The facade of this house, in rustic worked stone, features elegant polychrome engravings and numerous windows.
Addresses:
Villa Biancardi, Via Ludovico Vistarini, Zorlesco, Casalpusterlengo (LO)
Villa Biancardi, Viale Risorgimento, 19, Codogno (LO)