Categoria: Mantua

You probably don’t know that Mantua sits beside three lakes fed by the river Mincio. It is a water city in the middle of the Po Valley, a unique urban landscape. The best way to start your tour of the city is from San Giorgio bridge and then you can visit slowly the beauties of this jewel of Italian art and architecture.
We suggest you to do it in July or August, when thousands of lotus flowers bloom on the Lake Superior. It is unknown whether for a legend or a bad investment in “lotus flour”, but the fact is that in these two months the already magnificent view of Mantua turns into an oriental charm. You will be impressed again by the majesty of Palazzo Ducale and the sophistication of the Palazzo Te. Don’t miss the inevitable Piazza Sordello and Piazza Erbe with the Rotonda di San Lorenzo, the beautiful Casa del Mercante, the Astronomical Clock Tower and the Palazzo della Ragione. After the earthquake in May 2012 the Chamber of Mantegna in Castel San Giorgio is back open. One more reason to visit this beautiful city starting from 10 things to do and see absolutely in Mantua.

If you are looking for a hotel in Mantua, we suggest you to choose among those offered by Booking.com. There are about 50 hotels with prices, pictures and comments of guests already stayed there. Go to Booking.com

1

This Palace has about 500 rooms where the Gonzaga family lived and ruled from 1328 to 1707, until the Duke Ferdinand Karl was forced to the exile.

It is considered like the Palace in Paris, Vienna or Caserta, and it is the result of several buildings of the sixteenth-century located between the Lower Lake and Piazza Sordello. The original nucleus is made by the Palazzo del Capitano and the Magna Domus edified by Bonacolsi family. With the Gonzaga these buildings were integrated with new buildings to form the Old Court. Here, including courtyards, gardens, rooms, you cannot miss the frescoes of Pisanello. Then it was built St. George the Old Castle where you can visit the famous Room of the Mantegna (see point 4). In 1480 it was built the Domus Nova and the Doge’s Palace. Unfortunately the sumptuousness of the interior is very little: with the end of the family fortunes, the Gonzaga were forced to sell works and furnishings. The armies of Napoleon in Italy did the rest. Still visible, fortunately, the Gonzaga Family in Adoration of the Trinity by Rubens.

2

The name comes from the name of an island called Teieto and not from the famous drink!

At the beginning of 1500 Francis Gonzaga built a small manor house to enjoy the tranquillity of the island. It was only in 1524, when Federico II Gonzaga began the construction of the Palazzo Te as we see it today. It was built by Romano, the best pupil of Raphael. If you want to know how he looked like, there is a portrait painted by Titian next to the ticket office! Palazzo Te is obviously gorgeous: from the façades, the rooms with an amazing sequence of symbols and references to the life of the Gonzaga family and the politics of the time. The artistic highlight is the Giants Room, a series of paintings with a great technical skills and innovative capacity. The fresco is about the moment when Jupiter punish the giants for their attempt to replace the gods. You will be suddenly put into the center of the battle, thanks to a technical perspective obtained by painting the entire wall, from floor to ceiling. Not to be missed.

3

In Castel San Giorgio there is the most important art work of Mantua: the camera picta or Bridal Chamber painted by Mantegna from 1465 to 1474.

Thanks to a division of spaces and an exceptional use of perspective, Mantegna can transform the walls into a space in which the Gonzaga family’s characters enter into the scene.
In the first wall ( “the Court”), all the components of the Gonzaga family are portrayed, the Marquis Ludovico II and his wife Barbara of Brandenburg are surrounded by children and families. Ludovico, turned toward Raimondo dei Lupi, receives a letter and the small Paola gives an apple to his mother. Note the dog and the dwarf looking at the viewer.
The second scene (called “the meeting”) is a celebration of the family: here Ludovico II Gonzaga is with his son Francesco the Cardinal, holding the hand of his brother Ludovico, who gives his hand to nephew Sigismund. A curiosity: there are three signatures of Mantegna. The first over the door, the second right next door, on the pillar, where the artist depicts a kind of flower. The third, in the clouds on the left in the vault.

4

According to tradition, in the Church of Sant’Andrea it is guarded the earth with the blood of Christ that Longinus, the Roman centurion who pierced his side, picked up at the foot of the Cross.

It’s the Holy Grail that Longinus at his death (37 d.C) buried. For about 800 years nobody could find it and Sant’Andrea indicated where to find the first urn. With this discovery, Mantua became a bishop place and it was built a small church in honor of the Apostle Andrea. In 1048 it took place the second finding of relics and bones of St. Longinus. The church was finally restored permanently since 1472, by Leon Battista Alberti, even if the artist’s death have altered the Renaissance layout. The crypt preserves, with a sophisticated 12-key mechanism, the relics that are pulled out only on Good Friday.

5

The Rotonda di San Lorenzo is the oldest church in Mantova. Built in the image of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, it has a central plant with a gallery at the top.

The interior has a single nave, with the central part preceded by a space with eight columns. The church was completely painted, but the ups and downs that crossed over the centuries have left only remain of frescos, including a “San Lorenzo sulla graticola”. Used as a warehouse and then the courtyard, it was consecrated in 1926 and restored to its former splendour by demolishing the houses which obstructed the view.

6

The biggest and the most important square of Mantua is dedicated to the poet troubadour Sordello but for centuries it was called Piazza San Pietro. Small jewel of harmony, Piazza Sordello is the place where Mantua was founded and where the beauty of the Lombard city finds its best scenery.

The Cathedral is the most important church in the city, but not as beautiful as the nearby St. Andrew. Inside there were buried the most important members of the Gonzaga family. Next to the cathedral there is the tower located at the bottom of the square, while on the left you will find the Bishop’s Palace, Palazzo degli Uberti with impressive alley Bonacolsi, Palazzo Castiglioni and the Palazzo Acerbi with the Torre della Gabbia. On the other side of the square rises the suggestive Palazzo del Capitano and the Magna Domus, original nucleus of the Ducal Palace (see point 1).

7

As many Venetian and Lombard cities, the name of Piazza delle Erbe indicates the secular function of a commercial place of the city, in particular fruit and vegetables market.

Today there are shops under the arcades, the tables of bars and restaurants to characterize the commercial and tourist center of Mantova. Starting from the Rotonda of San Lorenzo (See point 5), on the right there is the Casa del Mercante and on left the Astronomical Clock Tower (1473) and the Palazzo della Ragione. The square is closed by the Palazzo del Podestà, also called “Palazzo del Broletto” (1227). On the back side there is a thirteenth-century statue of Virgil in the chair, that people of Mantua call more simply, “la vècia” (the old woman in dialect).

8

In 2008 UNESCO decided to declare Mantua a World Heritage Site. The Lombard jewel, however, added the nearby town of Sabbioneta as an example of the ideal Renaissance city.

Built in just 30 years by order of Vespasiano Gonzaga, Sabbioneta is an outstanding example of a fortified city planned and built from nothing, at the same time military and residential city, town and rural court.
Several works of art make Sabbioneta a unique place: the Teatro all’Antica , the first built in Europe to perform this function; the Gallery of the Ancients, the longest in Italy after the one of the Carte geografiche in the Vatican and the Uffizi in Florence. Among other important buildings, Palazzo Ducale mansion of the Duke when he was in government and Palazzo Giardino a place of leisure and relax. Sabbioneta is a beautiful natural setting in the middle of the Po Valley, a few kilometres from the confluence of the Po with the Oglio.

9

“Sizeable” is the correct term for this cuisine and how could it be otherwise? We are in the middle of the Po Valley, whose fertility has been used for growing pumpkins that we find in many dishes, from the famous ravioli to desserts.

From Mantua to Veneto there are kilometres of paddies where it is grown the famous “Vialone Nano”, which finds its highest expression in the “Risotto alla pilota”, seasoned with pork sausage. “Cuisine of the people and principles”, is defined this cuisine, and it is no coincidence that in many recipes, the pig always appears as king of the table. Among the first course you cannot miss the bigoli, all fresh pasta with egg, agnolini (sort of tortellini). We are also in the land of Lambrusco wine, Parmigiano, Grana and mustards. Among the second course it reigns the braised, stew, boiled meat and sausage. The dessert par excellence is the sbrisolona, delicate cake made with almonds.

10

City of art but also the economic centre in the heart of Northern Italy, Mantua can welcome many tourists.

It is easy to find a place at a good price during the winter and autumn, but you have to book in advance if you want to visit the city during the spring or summer.
The prices start from 70 € per night for a good 3 star hotel in the old town center. In residence or in hotels away from the center you can also find rooms starting from 40 € per night in a double including breakfast.
If you are looking for a hotel in Mantua, we suggest you to choose among those offered by Booking.com. There are about 50 hotels with prices, pictures and comments of guests already stayed there. Go to Booking.com.