Crossed by the River Adda, the province of Lodi stretches over the fertile Po Valley: the flat territory is furrowed by a thick network of canals particularly suitable for agriculture, and especially for dairy farming. The rural landscape is characterised by large fields divided by canals and poplar groves, with isolated farms: there are large protected areas of naturalistic interest, especially along the River Adda. Lodi is a town founded in the Middle Ages (1159) built 7 km from the more ancient Lodi that was destroyed by the Milanese with whom it was in conflict: the only building remaining of the old Lodi is St. Cassiano’s basilica, dating back to the V century and rebuilt in the thirteen hundreds in Romanesque-Gothic style. Lodi’s Piazza della Vittoria is one of the most beautiful medieval squares of Lombardy; it is a large square surrounded by ancient buildings with arcades and dominated by the splendid Romanesque Cathedral built in the XII century, and beside which the Broletto Palace was built in the XIII century, with its Baroque additions. Also noteworthy are the Church of the “Incoronata” in the style of Bramante, and the beautiful Gothic church of St. Francis, beside which is situated the hospital with an elegant cloister. Outside the city the interesting attractions are not only those of the landscape: at St. Angleo there is a castle built by the Visconti family, which now houses the Agricultural Museum; at Borghetto Lodigiano there is an elegant late Gothic palace; and at Abbadia Cerreto there is the Cistercian church of St. Peter.