The Palazzo Ducale – the Ducal Palace – was Gonzaga family's residence from 1328 to 1707; today it is a museum. Actually, it is a huge group of buildings giving onto Piazza Sordello – the most ancient are Palazzo del Capitano and Magna Domus -,...
Palazzo Te is Giulio Romano's masterpiece in Mantua; it was built (1525-1535) as a leisure residence, on the orders of Federico II Gonzaga. Great artists, such as Primaticcio, Rinaldo Mantovano and Benedetto Pagni, helped Giulio Romano to deck...
The Basilica of Sant'Andrea is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral and minor basilica in Mantua. It is one of the major works of 15th-century Renaissance architecture in Northern Italy. Commissioned by Ludovico III Gonzaga, the church was begun in 1462...
The Rotonda di San Lorenzo is the most ancient church in the city. It is now sunk below the level of the Piazza della Erbe. It probably stands on the site of a Roman temple that was dedicated to the goddess Venus.
It was built during the...
Mantua Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale di San Pietro apostolo; Duomo di Mantova) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Peter. It is the seat of the Bishop of Mantua.
An initial structure probably existed on the site in the Early...
This is the most ancient part of Mantua, and corresponds to the city boundaries from Roman age to the late Middle Ages. The ancient city – civitas vetus in Latin – actually extended from San Giorgio castle to present piazza Virgiliana, and from...
Piazza delle Erbe has always been the centre of trade and opens southwards with the Casa di Giovan Boniforte da Concorezzo (or Casa del Mercante – Merchant House) of 1455, continuing with the Romanesque Rotonda di San Lorenzo, the Torre...
The Teatro Bibiena di Mantova (also known as, among others, the Teatro Scientifico, Teatro Accademico or Teatrino della Accademia Filarmonica) was made by Antonio Bibiena in 1767-1769 and decorated in 1773-1775 with a facade of Piermarini...
The residence Andrea Mantegna built for himself is a very interesting example of Renaissance architecture.
Today it is a property of the Province of Mantua and it hosts several exhibitions and a rich documentation centre, where many documents...
It was joined to Palazzo del Podestà by Gonzaga family; when a blaze destroyed Palazzo del Podestà in 1413, it became Palatium Juris, id est the courthouse. Years later, the porch giving onto piazza Erbe and the Torre dell'Orologio - id est the...
Architect Bartolino of Novara started the construction of this massive building in 1395, on the orders of Francesco Gonzaga.
The castle was a good defence bastion and a symbol of power; its position ensured to control the lakes and to give...
The Chiesa di San Francesco ( Italian, "Church of St. Francis" ) is a Roman Catholic church founded by the Franciscan Order in 1304 but it was not consecrated until 1459, when Pope Pius II performed the ceremony.
Suppressed in 1782, it...
The Park covers a vast area, approximately 16,000 hectares [3], including the Castellaro Lagusello Morainic Complex Nature Reserve, the Bosco Fontana Nature Reserve, the Vallazza Nature Reserve, and the Valli del Mincio Nature Reserve.
It...
Its back is one of the shorter sides of piazza delle Erbe, while its façade gives onto piazza Broletto. Palazzo del Podestà was built in 1227, and was the government building during the Commune age.
In XV century Luca Fancelli renewed it on...
San Maurizio in Mantua, located on Via Chiassi, is a domed Baroque church designed by Antonio Maria Viani. It was once called ‘’Santi Maurizio e Margherita’’.
The church was consecrated in 1616, as part of an adjacent Theatine convent. The...
Galleria Museo Valenti Gonzaga is on the first floor of Palazzo Valenti Gonzaga. The museum is 500 square meter large; you will admire the entry arcade, the room of the prodigal son, the chapel, the room of the triumph of time over fame, and the...
It is the only museum of its kind in Italy. The collection includes articles from all over the country and documents the evolution of the equipment used by the Fire Brigade between the XVIII and XX centuries.
Among other things there is...
The word broletto (from the Latin term brolo, meaning courtyard or fanced field) has been used since the 11th century to identify - in Lombard towns – the fenced area where the town assemblies were held and justice administered. Then, the term...
The first church at the site was dedicated to St Barnabas, the first bishop of Milan, and was noted at the site by 1263. The church was provided by Francesco I Gonzaga in 1397 to a convent of nuns of the Servite Order. In 1737, the church was...
This space was originally the Porto dell’Ancona, the city’s oldest port, but in 1797 General Miollis, governor during French occupation, convinced the city authorities to turn the space – filled in and reclaimed from the marsh vegetation – into a...
The church was built in 1495 on the orders of marquis Francesco II Gonzaga, Isabella d'Este's husband, who wanted to celebrate that way his victory over French king Charles VII during Fornovo battle. The building was designed by architect...
San Sebastiano is an Early Renaissance church in Mantua. Begun in 1460 according to the designs of Leon Battista Alberti, it was left partially completed in the mid 1470s, by which time construction had slowed and was no longer being directed by...
Construction was commenced on the church and convent of St Ursola in 1608 by Antonio Maria Viani, painter and architect at the service of the Gonzaga family, to a commission from Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara and widow of Alfonso II...
Torre della Gabbia – the cage tower – is Mantua's highest tower; it stands out on Palazzo Acerbi. In 1576 duke Guglielmo Gonzaga put a great iron cage outside the tower to be used as a real prison. This imposing 13 century building overlooks...
In 1851 the opera "Rigoletto" was performed at Teatro La Fenice in Venice. These were the stage directions for the First act (2nd scene): "The most deserted end of a blind street. On the left, a house of decent aspect with a small courtyard...
This is a large, semicircular arch built around 1300 to connect the Palazzo del Podestà to the Palazzo del Massaro, where the administrator of the city's assets resided. It is surmounted by two triforium windows and has an open gallery above,...
It is situated in what was once the Gonzaga court theatre. At the end of the nineteenth century it was a market selling cocoons: silkworms were then commonly bred in the Mantuan countryside.
It is currently being turned into the home of...
The palace is a former residence of Francesco II Gonzaga, where it is possible to admire the famous “Triumphs of Caesar” frescoed by Andrea Mantegna.
A rich municipal collection of sculptures, frescoes, coats of arms and archaeological...
This palace was the residence of counts d'Arco until 1973, when last descendant Giovanna d'Arco stipulated that it become a public museum.
The local imperial palace was likely here during XII century. The remains of a two-meters thick wall...
The Palazzo is still the residence of Marchese Sordi and its long front (Frans Geffels, 1680) is adorned, above the entrance, with a fine coeval statue of the Madonna and Child by Giovanni Battista Barberini.
Architect Giovanni Battista Bertani built the palatine church in a small square inside the enormous ducal palace, on the orders of duke Guglielmo Gonzaga (1550-1587). The building started in 1561 and finished in 1572, while the bell tower was...
The Teatro Sociale of Mantua was built between 1817 and 1822 by the renowned Ticinese architect Luigi Canonica.
At the end of the Napoleonic period, there were two theaters in Mantua: the Teatro Regio, built in 1783 by Piermarini...
The Fish Market of Giulio Romano (or Loggia of Giulio Romano) is a historic building in Mantua.
Built in 1536 based on the design of the architect of Palazzo Te, it was dedicated to the fish trade. The structure consisted of two arcades...
Mantua Diocesan Museum is in Piazza Virgiliana, in the cloister of former Sant’Agnese monastery.
During XIV century, the followers of the Mantuan Blessed Giovanni Bono (1168-1249) founded in his town, just outside the civitas vetus, the grand...
The Tazio Nuvolari museum is dedicated to the memory of the great champion, described by Ferdinand Porsche as “the greatest racing driver of the past, present and future.” Between 1920 and 1950, Nuvolari participated in more than 350 motorcycle...
In 1455 this rich merchant built his own house behind the XIV century Torre del Salaro, on the southern side of piazza delle Erbe.
You may still admire the terracotta floral pattern on its Gothic façade, and a marble architrave upon the...