The Napoleon Bonaparte Bridge, which today links the two banks of the Adda at Lodi, is not the bridge over which the French and Austrians clashed on 10 May 1796. At the time, the young General Bonaparte was faced with a wooden structure 200 metres long and 8 metres wide. However, the old wooden bridge was destroyed in 1864, during the Second War of Independence, and replaced in the same year by the current masonry structure, made up of eight low arches.

The church of San Francesco and its characteristic bell tower are distinctive features of the Lodi skyline, but they are also witnesses to crucial moments in European history. Built between the 13th and 14th centuries, the interior of the church contains frescoes that illustrate the development of local art over the centuries.

However, it was the bell tower dating from 1457, an example of the Lombard Romanesque-Gothic style, that played a strategic role in the late afternoon of 10 May 1796: from this height, Napoleon observed the Austrians' movements. Noticing their numerical inferiority, the general chose to change his strategy, coordinating a daring frontal attack on the bridge while the cavalry forded the river, taking the enemy by surprise and thus marking the history of the town.

Palazzo Ghisi Sommariva, one of Lodi's most important historic buildings, is closely linked to the very origins of the town through the family of the same name. The building still retains its original splendour, typical of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture: the harmony of the exterior façade is matched by the elegance of the interiors, characterised by frescoes and refined Baroque stuccowork.

The palace has gone down in history thanks to a fundamental political event: on 11 May 1796, the day after the Battle of the Bridge, Francesco Melzi d'Eril handed over the keys of Milan to Napoleon. This symbolic act was not just a tribute to the victor, but officially marked the beginning of the Napoleonic era in Italy.