Mantova Things to Do

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I would say Palazzo Ducale is the main attraction in Mantova. The building is huge and actually consist in several different parts built in different time.
It is open to visit Tuesday to Sunday from 8.15 to 19.15, closed Monday, 1st January and 25th December. Tickets cost 6.5 euros each. They strongly recommend to book in advance, so i did, but i was slightly disappointed about it as there was no preferential line for people with reservation. Maybe it was because there were not many people at all that day, but i was expecting it different.
The visit is very interesting, take at least one hour and end with the Camera degli Sposi with the famous Mantegna paintings. This is actually the only reason to book as this room has a restricted visitors number policy and the reservation grant you to get in.
The complex has wonderful roof gardens, unfortunately closed during winter time.

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San Pietro is the main church of Mantova, it had an amazing neoclassical facade, white and adorned with statues, and the Gothic side is just as interesting with its spiky bricks ornaments. The contrast is actually amazing.
The inside is also interesting, with a marble floor and several chapels. They also have a great organ, the player was practicing when we were there and we stood there several minutes listening to the music and looking at his movements while he played, quite interesting.
The side chapel has several mummified bodies of important priest and nuns, some are quite old as they were dated around 1100!!

This was a real surprise! During some works in Piazza Sordello in 2006, the workers were making a excavation to install a speed bump, and with their high surprise they discovered the ruins of a roman villa!
They uncovered a mosaic pavement about 50 square meter with multicolored mosaic.
The pavement has been restored and it is now available to visit.
The entrance is surprisingly free, the set up is very nice, all dark to enhance the mosaic. It provides detailed information about Mantova in Roman era and about what they found there.
Unfortunately it is not possible to take picture inside but there are some nice one on the site provided below.
The pavilion is suppose to be open for visit until January 2012, I am not sure about what will happen after.

Open only Friday to Sunday: 10-12.30; 15-18

We did not gave Palazzo Te justice as we only payed it a night visit to take some pictures. Unfortunately we did not had enough time for an extensive visit.
It is a huge complex and it is a wonderful location for big and famous exhibit. During our visit there was one about Virgilio.
The palace was build in 1525 for the duke of Mantova and was meant to be the place where he would have had partiesand fun in general, so much to amuse a man!
It is surrounded by gardens and the inside is suppose to be wonderfully decorated. Sort of a Mantova's Versailles!!
It is now the Civic Museum, with a permanent collections and several exhibit every year.

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Considering the size of the town, Mantova has a lot of green areas. The historical center is surrounded by the three lake, and the whole perimeter is a park.There are big old tree, lots of benches and picnic tables and nice pathway to walk or ride a bike.
Another big green area is Piazza Virgiliana, I did not like the white monuments with fountains but the green area is really appreciable.
The park I liked the most was actually a small enclosed garden, the entrance is on the right of Palazzo Ducale main door. Maybe the fall color helped it, but I really loved the shapes of the tree and path and took several good picture in it.
All those park would make great location for a rest period or a picnic lunch during your visit.

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The Fireman Museum created in 1991 by Mantova firefighters has got to be one of the best in the world. They have preserved multiple types of trucks, equipment, tools, uniforms and more and placed them in a huge building near the Palace. The museum is free, and they will have a retired fireman there as a guide.
The trucks are in such good condition that you think they could drive off and use them in an emergency.
You don't want to miss this great museum.
Open Saturday 2:30 to 6:00
Sunday 10:00 to 12:00 then 2:30 to 6:00
Closed on Christmas and Easter

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There are a number of things one can see walking around the city of Mantova. Castles and Churces of course, but we found a street that had our surname - Via Mario Cardone! Another discovery was Andrea Mantegna's home as we walked to Palazzo Te.

The Church of St Andrew stands on Mantegna Square. Leon Battista Alberti conceived of this church in 1470, and Luca Fancelli built it in the 16th century. The 17th century saw additions to it, and Filippo Juvara added its dome in the 18th. This is a fine example of Renaissance church architecture.