Description
The Mincio Park is the regional park that protects the valley of the river Mincio, from Lake Garda to the Po, by way of Mantua: some 16,000 hectares of hills, marshes, farmland and lakes, to explore on foot or by bike.
The park changes character along the river. In the north are the morainic hills of Garda, then the plain, the meanders and the old riverbeds, all the way to the lakes of Mantua, which have been part of the park since 1984.
The easiest way to cross it is the Mantua–Peschiera cycle path, some forty kilometres along the Mincio's towpaths, on one side of the Quadrilateral, the system of 19th-century Austrian fortresses. Along the way you pass the Scaliger castle of Valeggio and the watermills of Borghetto, before reaching Mantua along the Lago di Mezzo.
Among the protected areas, two stand out: the Valli del Mincio, a vast marsh on the outskirts of Mantua, between Rodigo and Curtatone, recognised as a wetland of international importance for waterbirds; and the Castellaro Lagusello reserve, with peat bogs, a small lake and hills covered in orchards.
For birdwatchers the list is long: you can see great egrets, grey herons and purple herons, white storks, night herons, little egrets, great crested grebes, kingfishers, bee-eaters, black kites and marsh harriers.
The park also holds Gonzaga villas and the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, at Curtatone. In its Gothic nave, hanging from the ceiling, is a real stuffed Nile crocodile, placed there in the 15th or 16th century.
The Mincio even has a place in the Divine Comedy. In Canto XX of the Inferno, Dante tells how the water, once it leaves Garda, is no longer called Benaco but Mincio as far as Governolo, where it falls into the Po; and how, after a short course, it finds a plain where it spreads out and turns it into marsh.
The park changes character along the river. In the north are the morainic hills of Garda, then the plain, the meanders and the old riverbeds, all the way to the lakes of Mantua, which have been part of the park since 1984.
The easiest way to cross it is the Mantua–Peschiera cycle path, some forty kilometres along the Mincio's towpaths, on one side of the Quadrilateral, the system of 19th-century Austrian fortresses. Along the way you pass the Scaliger castle of Valeggio and the watermills of Borghetto, before reaching Mantua along the Lago di Mezzo.
Among the protected areas, two stand out: the Valli del Mincio, a vast marsh on the outskirts of Mantua, between Rodigo and Curtatone, recognised as a wetland of international importance for waterbirds; and the Castellaro Lagusello reserve, with peat bogs, a small lake and hills covered in orchards.
For birdwatchers the list is long: you can see great egrets, grey herons and purple herons, white storks, night herons, little egrets, great crested grebes, kingfishers, bee-eaters, black kites and marsh harriers.
The park also holds Gonzaga villas and the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, at Curtatone. In its Gothic nave, hanging from the ceiling, is a real stuffed Nile crocodile, placed there in the 15th or 16th century.
The Mincio even has a place in the Divine Comedy. In Canto XX of the Inferno, Dante tells how the water, once it leaves Garda, is no longer called Benaco but Mincio as far as Governolo, where it falls into the Po; and how, after a short course, it finds a plain where it spreads out and turns it into marsh.