Cappella de' Picenardi

The second half of the name is a family: the Picenardi of Cremona, who held this place in fief for centuries. The village belonged to the Lower Province of the Contado of Cremona, and it is one of those small places whose borders have been redrawn so many times that administrative history becomes the main history. In 1786 it was moved into the new province of Bozzolo, which would later become that of Casalmaggiore, and in 1791 given back to Cremona. In 1810, in the Napoleonic age, the neighbouring comuni of Cansero, Dosso Pallavicino and Stilo de' Mariani were joined to it; in 1816, with the kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, all three took back their autonomy. In 1841 the Austrian government decided that Dosso Pallavicino, however, was to stay here for good.

At the unification of Italy, in 1861, Cappella de' Picenardi counted six hundred and fifty-two inhabitants. Six years later, in 1867, Cansero, Isolello and Vighizzolo were joined to it; the following year Stilo de' Mariani took the opposite direction and ended up in Pessina Cremonese. Of those comuni what remains today are names on the maps and a few farmsteads. The village church is dedicated to Saint Pancras. Between 1927 and 1955, then, there was a tram stop here: the Cremona–Asola line, run at the last by the Tramvie Provinciali Cremonesi, had a station shared with Pieve San Giacomo. When they closed it, the countryside went back to moving by road alone.