Residenza La Villa

Memorial to the Admirable Crichton in San Simone

by JHR

Some British people may know that the Scottish writer, J M Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, also wrote a play called 'The Admirable Crichton', first produced in 1902. Crichton is the butler to an English aristocratic family. The play humourously dissects Edwardian social mores and the class system. Many more Brits will be familiar with the 1957 film adaptation starring Kenneth More.

Very few British people, even Scots, will be aware of THE ORIGINAL Admirable Crichton. He was a Scot who found fame and glory in 16th c. Italy, as a scholar, courtier, soldier and polymath, and who died nobly but tragically in Mantua. (Google him for the full story)

His memorial is on the west wall of the Church of San Simone on the via Domenico Fernelli (5 minutes walk from the city centre) Any Scot visiting Mantua might care to pay homage to this remarkable man, although his story will appeal to anyone with a shred of intellectual curiosity.

The church itself was small, but provided a welcome refuge from the heat and crowds. A picture of a side-chapel altarpiece is attached.

Lower Than Ground Level: Unusual Church

by deecat

This picture is the view out of our Hotel Room window! It shows the Rotonda of San Lorenzo.

It stands next to the Torre dell'Orologio, but on a level lower than the square. It is a circular Romanesque church and is the oldest church in Mantova (Mantua). It was built in 1082, but in 1579 Guglielmo Gonzaga had it closed to worship and partly torn down.
Not until 1908-1926 was this old church brought back to light and missing parts were rebuilt in a neo-Romanesque interpretation.

We went inside this round church, and it seemed so strange to step down instead of up. The interior has a central core, whose taller roof is visible from the outside, surrounded by a two-storied ring aisle.

The upper part was the matroneum and was supported on round masonry piers. There are a few remains of the 12th and 13th century frescoes with "Christ as Judge". There are also figures of angels (in Byzantine style) on the vault and left of the altar.

Basilica di Sant'Andrea

by croisbeauty

Basilica di Sant'Andrea, the largest religious building in Mantova, was designed by Leon Battista Alberti, and is one of the best known Renaissance churches in the world.
The origin of the huge complex is traditionally set in the 9th century, with the construction of a building to house the relic of the blood of Christ, brought to Mantova by Longinus, the soldier who had pierced the side of Christ on the cross.
The building, according to Alberti's ideas, was to be unusual, large enough to hold great crowds and modeled on a heretofore unused type, that of the Etruscan temple.

Delicious Mantova

by barrikello

"A rich city full oh history, charme and quietness"

Mantova: so beautiful, so welcoming and fascinating, quiet and delicious. I'd never leave it and I'd always come back - at least once every year. It's a small city, ideal for living: most people go to work cyclying, traffic is average and food is just fantastic. If it was not for the fog - a normal event from November to March - I would settle there.