Province of Lodi

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Province of Lodi
Palazzo San Cristoforo Lodi.jpg
Map highlighting the location of the province of Lodi in Italy
Map highlighting the location of the province of Lodi in Italy
Country  Italy
Region Lombardy
Capital(s) Lodi
Comuni 61
 • President Mauro Soldati
 • Total 782 km2 (302 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 229,095
 • Density 290/km2 (760/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 26900
Telephone prefix 0371
Vehicle registration LO

The province of Lodi (Italian: provincia di Lodi) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Lodi. As of 2015, it has a population of 229,576 inhabitants over an area of 783 square kilometres (300 sq mi), giving the province a population density of 293.2 inhabitants per square kilometre. The city of Lodi has a population of 44,769 inhabitants as of 2015, and the provincial president is Mauro Soldati.[1]


The city of Lodi was first inhabited during the fifth century BCE, before being occupied by the Romans in 222 BCE; by 89 BCE it had became known as Laus Pomperia.[2] The history of the province in the Lombard and Frankish period is poorly documented, but the city of Lodi controlled the important trading route from Milan southwards to Cremona, Piacenza and the lower stretches of the River Lambro. In 1025, the German emperor Conrad II granted certain rights to the Archbishop of Milan which caused land ownership to change and tensions in the region to flare.[3] Allied with the Holy Roman Emperor but independent, Laus Pomperia fought against the Milanesi in the twelfth century, and the city was destroyed in 1111, following a four year war with Milan, and again in 1158. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor had the city rebuilt near the Adda River, but the residents did not recognise this move and decided to join the anti-HRE Lombard League in 1167. The city Lodi fought against the Romans in 1176 and continued to have a number of problems with Milan until the city was conquered in 1335 by lord of Milan Azzone Visconti.[2]

It remained peaceful until it was invaded in the 1490s. The first significant Italian victory by Napoleon took place in the province on 10 May 1796, where the 5,000 men-strong forces of Napoleon defeated Austrian forces of 10,000 men. It fell under Austrian rule until the Austrians left the city in 1859 and it was ruled by Marshal Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta's French forces from 10 June 1859. It later became a part of the kingdom of Italy and became a component of the province of Milan.[2]


The province of Lodi is one of twelve provinces in the region of Lombardy in northwestern Italy. It is about 780 square kilometres (300 sq mi) in area and is delineated by rivers; the right bank of the Adda nearly surrounds it, and a further part of the boundary is formed by the left bank of the Lambro and of the Po. The province is bounded on the east by the Province of Cremona, the Metropolitan City of Milan to the north and by the Province of Pavia to the west.[2] The land is mostly gently sloping or flat and the soil is alluvial loam. It is used to grow fodder crops, which are mown up to eight times a year, rice, wheat, maize, sugarbeet and vegetables.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "Provincia di Lodi". Tutt Italia. Retrieved 18 August 2015. 
  2. ^ a b c d Roy Palmer Domenico (2002). The Regions of Italy: A Reference Guide to History and Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-0-313-30733-1. 
  3. ^ Christopher Kleinhenz (2004). Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 676. ISBN 978-1-135-94880-1. 

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 45°19′N 9°30′E﻿ / ﻿45.317°N 9.500°E﻿ / 45.317; 9.500