Explore the real-world places that appear in Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Villa Morellini (Villa Lombroso), Piazza Duomo, Ponte della Cremonella (Crema's Bridges), Museo Civico di Crema, San Agostino Church and 10 more.
Località Mosio, Crema — The Perlmans' summer estate
The novel centers entirely on this sprawling Italian Renaissance villa where the Perlman family spends their summer. Seventeen-year-old Elio lives here with his parents; his father is a distinguished musicologist. When Oliver, a charismatic American doctorate student, arrives as his father's research assistant, Elio becomes immediately infatuated. The villa's gardens, library, and rooms become the setting for their intense emotional and physical relationship throughout the summer. The marble staircase, the music room where Elio practices piano, and the grounds where they exchange glances and stolen moments are burned into the narrative.
The villa represents the kind of aristocratic summer retreat common to Lombardy's wealthy families since the Renaissance. Such estates served as cultural salons where intellectuals and artists gathered. Aciman based the villa's atmosphere on the real Baroque and Renaissance villas dotting the Po River valley region.
While the specific villa is fictionalized, similar estates in the Crema region remain private residences or have been converted to agritourism properties. The landscape and architecture described in the novel are authentic to the Lombardy countryside.
Piazza Duomo, Crema — The heart of town
Elio and Oliver frequent Crema's main square, where they encounter each other 'by chance' among the townspeople and architecture. The plaza serves as a public space where their secret glances and brief exchanges feel both concealed and dangerously exposed. The Duomo's presence—majestic and eternal—contrasts with the intensity and temporality of their summer romance. Elio walks these streets thinking of Oliver, imagining encounters, wrestling with desire and propriety.
Crema's Piazza Duomo has been the civic and spiritual heart of the town since the medieval period. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, begun in 1284, dominates the square with its Gothic-Renaissance facade. The piazza was reconstructed in the 18th century and remains largely unchanged.
The Piazza Duomo is Crema's vibrant public square, lined with cafes, shops, and restaurants. The Cathedral remains an active parish church and one of Lombardy's architectural gems. Visitors can freely walk the square and visit the cathedral interior.
Visit: Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (landmark)
Via Cremonella, Crema — River crossings and secret meetings
The bridges over Crema's waterways become symbolic spaces where Elio and Oliver orchestrate encounters, pretending chance meetings are just that. Oliver walks across these bridges; Elio follows at a distance. The water below mirrors their emotional currents—beautiful, flowing, impossible to hold. These liminal spaces between the villa and town represent the boundary between their private world and public propriety.
Crema's medieval waterways and bridges were essential to the town's defense and commerce. The Serio river and associated canals defined the settlement pattern for centuries. Many of the current bridges date to medieval and Renaissance reconstructions.
Crema's waterways and bridges remain central to the town's geography and charm. The Serio runs through the town, and several historic bridges—both stone and iron—cross it. They are public crossings freely accessible to pedestrians.
Visit: Crema Waterfront and Historic Bridges (landmark)
Via Umberto I, Crema — Local art and culture
Oliver, as a scholar and man of refined taste, would naturally visit Crema's small museum to study local Renaissance art and culture. The museum embodies the intellectual world he and Elio's father inhabit—one of scholarship, beauty, and careful appreciation. For Elio, it represents the realm of adult sophistication that Oliver occupies, a world he desperately wants to enter.
The Museo Civico was established in the 19th century to preserve Crema's artistic and cultural heritage, particularly works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The collection reflects Crema's importance as a center of art patronage in northern Italy.
The Museo Civico di Crema operates as a public museum housing paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from local collections. It occupies a restored palazzo and is open to visitors interested in Lombard Renaissance culture.
Visit: Museo Civico di Crema e del Cremasco (museum)
Via Agostino, Crema — Sacred and profane
The church stands as a symbol of the moral and religious order that constrains Elio and Oliver's relationship. Both young men are aware of Catholic Italian society's condemnation of their love. When Elio attends mass or passes the church, he feels the weight of religious judgment, yet the church also offers a refuge for contemplation of his feelings. Oliver, as an American and outsider, observes these constraints with both sympathy and distance.
San Agostino is a medieval church in Crema's historic center, rebuilt and refined through the Renaissance. It exemplifies the religious architecture that permeates Italian towns and represents centuries of Catholic spiritual life.
San Agostino remains an active parish church open for worship and visits. It retains its original architectural character and serves the local community.
Visit: Church of San Agostino (landmark)
Within Villa Morellini — intellectual sanctuary
The villa's library is where Elio's father works with Oliver on his research, examining manuscripts and discussing classical music and literature. It is the intellectual heart of the estate, lined with books on music, history, and philosophy. Oliver and Elio's brief, charged moments in this room—searching for a book, their hands touching, the weight of unspoken words—are some of the novel's most tension-filled scenes. Elio practices piano nearby, his music a language for emotions he cannot speak.
Such libraries were common features of aristocratic Italian villas, serving as centers of humanist learning and cultural refinement since the Renaissance.
The fictional library represents the private intellectual spaces of such estates, which typically remain private family collections.
Villa grounds — Site of forbidden desire
In one of the novel's most celebrated and explicit scenes, Elio encounters Oliver near the peach trees on the villa grounds and acts on his desire, leaving behind evidence of his passion on the fruit. This moment—carnal, urgent, and transgressive—is both comedic and deeply affecting. It represents Elio's crossing from desire into action, from yearning into possession, and the physical manifestation of his summer-long obsession.
Fruit groves were common features of Italian villas, providing both aesthetic beauty and practical sustenance. Peach and apricot trees thrive in Lombardy's climate.
The specific grove is fictional, but similar orchards exist on estates throughout the region. The landscape described is authentic to villa grounds in the Po Valley.
Villa Morellini — Overlooking gardens
Elio performs music on the villa's piano—both for his family and as a solitary emotional outlet. The terrace adjoining the piano room becomes a space where he plays to be heard by Oliver, where music becomes courtship and confession. Oliver listens, understanding perhaps more than Elio realizes. The final piano piece Elio plays—after Oliver leaves—is a devastating expression of grief and longing.
Pianos were essential to cultivated households in Europe, particularly among intellectuals and artists. The villa's musical atmosphere reflects the Perlman family's educated status.
The fictional terrace represents the kind of semi-private performance spaces found in such estates.
Crema center — Public meetings and private longings
Elio and Oliver, under the pretense of casual errands or chance encounters, meet at cafés in town where they can be in proximity without arousing suspicion. The café is a public yet intimate space where they share glances over espresso and gelato, where Oliver might read a newspaper while Elio pretends indifference, where the tension between them is electric yet concealed.
Italian cafés have served as social gathering places since the 18th century, essential to town life and the rhythm of daily social interaction.
Crema's historic center remains lined with traditional Italian cafés and restaurants where locals and visitors gather. Many date back generations and maintain their original character.
Visit: Various Caffès in Crema Town Center (restaurant)
Serio River, Crema — Nature and reflection
Elio walks along the Serio riverbank, alone with his thoughts, wrestling with his feelings for Oliver. The river's constant flow mirrors his emotional turbulence—inexorable, beautiful, melancholic. He imagines Oliver here, imagines conversations they might have, imagines a future that can never exist. The river is both companion and witness to his inner turmoil.
The Serio has been central to Crema's geography and culture for centuries, providing water, power, and beauty. It flows through the Po River valley, one of Italy's most fertile and historically rich regions.
The Serio remains a vital part of Crema's landscape. The riverbank is accessible to walkers and offers scenic views of the surrounding countryside. It remains a peaceful place for reflection and nature.
Visit: Serio Riverbank Park (park)
Via Belcredi, Crema — A neighboring estate
The Perlmans and Oliver may visit or be aware of neighboring villas and estates in the region. These represent the network of cultivated, intellectual society that defines their summer. Such visits would be occasions for Elio to observe Oliver in formal social settings, to see him interact with other cultured people, intensifying Elio's sense of how little he truly knows him.
Crema's surrounding region contains numerous Renaissance and Baroque villas built by merchant families, clergy, and nobility. These estates formed a connected landscape of artistic and intellectual patronage.
Villa Belcredi and similar estates in the region are private residences or have been converted to agritourism ventures. Some are visible from public roads; most remain closed to casual visitors.
Piazza del Duomo, Cremona (35km south) — Cultural excursion
Elio's father might take Oliver and his family to nearby Cremona to visit the Cathedral and its famous bell tower, or to attend a concert. Such excursions represent the scholarly and cultural pursuits that occupy the adults. For Elio, being in close proximity to Oliver in a car and in unfamiliar settings intensifies his awareness and desire. The beauty of Cremona's artistic heritage mirrors the emotional landscape of the novel.
Cremona's Cathedral, begun in 1107, is one of Italy's greatest Romanesque-Gothic structures. Its bell tower, the Torrazzo, is one of Europe's tallest medieval towers. Cremona has been a center of violin-making and musical culture for centuries.
Cremona's Piazza del Duomo and Cathedral are major tourist destinations. The Cathedral is open for visits, and Cremona is famous for its musical heritage and violin-making tradition.
Visit: Cremona Cathedral and Torrazzo (landmark)
Via Goito, Crema — Arrival and departure
Oliver arrives at Crema's train station at the novel's beginning, stepping into Elio's life like a figure from a dream. The station is both mundane and momentous—the threshold through which Oliver enters and, devastatingly, through which he will depart at summer's end. Elio may visit the station multiple times, tracking Oliver's presence or contemplating his own escape.
Crema's train station was built in the late 19th century as part of Lombardy's expanding rail network, connecting the region's towns to Milan and beyond.
Crema's train station remains an active transit hub, connecting the town to Milan and other Lombard cities. The station building retains its historical character and serves daily commuters and travelers.
Visit: Crema Railway Station (landmark)
Lake Garda region, ~100km north — Romantic escape
Elio and Oliver may take a day or overnight excursion to Lake Garda, Italy's largest lake, a place of legendary beauty and romance. Such a journey would be narrated with longing and tension—the possibility of being alone together, the risk of discovery, the intoxicating proximity. Lake Garda represents escape from the villa's constraints, even if temporary.
Lake Garda has been a destination for travelers and lovers since antiquity. Its shores are dotted with charming towns, historic villas, and gardens. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it became a resort destination for wealthy Europeans.
Lake Garda remains one of Italy's premier tourist destinations. The lake's towns and shores are freely accessible. The region offers water activities, historic sites, and scenic beauty.
Visit: Lake Garda Waterfront and Towns (park)
Piazza Duca d'Aosta, Milano — The devastating call
In the novel's closing section, after Oliver has left and returned to America, Elio receives a phone call from Oliver at Milan's central train station—a moment of reconnection and farewell that is both tender and crushingly final. The phone booth becomes a monument to their summer, to love's impossibility, to the abyss between what was and what will never be. Elio weeps, understanding that this may be the last time he hears Oliver's voice.
Milano Centrale, one of Europe's grandest railway stations, opened in 1931. It represents modernity and movement, the intersection of past and future. The station's art deco architecture is iconic.
Milano Centrale remains one of Europe's busiest train stations. The historic main hall is magnificently preserved. Visitors can access the station and experience its grandeur and bustle.
Visit: Milano Centrale Railway Station (landmark)
More by André Aciman: All André Aciman books
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