Mantova Things to Do

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As a major agricultural center, Mantova is centered on a square named for the herbs grown in the countryside. Herbs Square is the best starting point for any visit to Mantova.

The Mayor's Palace was built in 1227. Duke Ludovico Gonzaga hired noted artist Luca Fancelli to remodel the palace. So it's a hybrid, part medieval and part Renaissance.

The Palace of Reason, on the square's west side, dates back to 1250. This is where the High Court of Justice met. Fancelli designed the imposing Clock Tower standing next to the palace.

The Rotunda of St Lawrence, on the other side of the Clock Tower, is a simple 11th century Romanesque-style church. It was built under Countess Mathilda of Canossa.

ITALIANO
mantova è una di quelle città che non finiranno mai di stupirti! o almeno questa è l'impressione di chi come me, nata e vissuta qui, l'ha vista.
Descrivere tutto sarebbe impossibile anche perché le emozioni provate nell'entrare in posti simili sono particolarmente intense!
www.a-mantova.com contiene non solo foto e informazioni turistiche molto apporfondite,ma anche notizie storiche.
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ENGLISH
Mantova is one of those cities that never cease to amaze you...or at least this is the impression she give me one those who have spent their life (even though not long) there!
If have so much to see and words hardly describes the emotions you feel entering one of the sites that make Mantova special.
If are interested in art and history you'll love this city! Mantua was raised to major importance as a European Court, rising artistically, culturally, of religious and military importance. At the Gonzagas Court artists like Pisanello, Mantegna, Perugino, Correggio, Leon Battista Alberti, Luca Fancelli, Giulio Romano, G.B.Bertani, Viani, Rubens, Fetti. Were working and a great number of Renaissance masterpieces came into in their collections. The Palazzo del Podestà (Town Hall - 1227) in Broletto square, the Palazzo della Ragione(1250) Erbe square. The town was embellished with new churches S. Andrea (1472) .... many new on line: http://www.a-mantova.com/

Please visit the web site to have a view what Mantova offer.
Otherwise this are links to some of the most famous places to see
One of the most famous palaces:
http://www.a-mantova.com/Te/inizio.htm

Churches to see:
http://www.a-mantova.com/chiese/chiemn1.htm

...& lots more!

Most memorable of all is an entire room of frescos by Andrea Mantegna which is to be found in St George’s castle, the fortified part of the complex. The series was commissioned by Duke Lodovico in 1471 and is known as “The Room of the Married Couple”. The Duke is shown in one fresco reading a letter. He is accompanied by his wife, children, servants, dwarf and courtiers, who are all vividly depicted dressed in glowing colours mostly of Autumnal gold and scarlet. Another fresco shows the Duke and his entourage meeting his son Francesco, a cardinal resplendent in scarlet and pale blue, on a journey. They are surrounded by younger family members and followers dressed in elegant capes and leggings. Mantegna has painted himself just behind and to the right of the cardinal. An idealised city is depicted in the background. Yet another fresco portrays the horses and hounds which were so beloved by the Gonzaga family together with some dashing young courtiers.

What makes these frescos so memorable is that Mantegna has not simply painted stylish images, the paintings show character too – these are people with hopes, ambitions, fears, ideas – just like ourselves. I suspect that if you were there – at the Gonzaga Court – you could name each and every one of them.

Technically Mantegna was ahead of his time, his paintings showed skilled use of perspective. The ceiling, the first of its kind, shows angles and peacocks peeping down from a circular structure into the room, with a blue and white sky beyond them.

We had this room completely to ourselves – for as long as we wished. There were no glass screens or timed entry, no crowds, no standing on tiptoe, no peering over a stranger’s shoulder, and no queues. All of this has inevitably become common in the grander, better known galleries of Italy, so, if you want to see something special, go NOW, before the crowds discover this hidden gem !

We spent much of our time in Mantua visting the Ducal Palace of the Gonzaga family. If you haven’t read my first tip on the Palace, there is more about our visit there. Unfortunately, we were supposed to leave our cameras with our bags in the left-luggage (I didn’t of course, being a well-trained Vter), so I couldn’t take any pictures inside because of the security (CCTV and custodians everywhere). So here in words is what you must go and see before it is discovered by the rest of the world.

The palace is a vast collection of buildings and courtyards of differing styles and ages. There is a route set out for visitors that takes you through many corridors and stairways, and to rooms with wonderful frescos. We passed through the Pisanello Hall with its frescos depicting tales of chivalry. We admired the fabulous chariots riding the skies in the Mirrors Hall and were amused by the frescos of half hidden horses in the Archers Hall. We found a whole room depicting Heros and Heroines of Greek literature painted by Romano.

Continued in Part 3

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We only had a day in Mantua and spent much of our time visiting the Ducal Palace of the Gonzaga family who ruled for several hundred years from 1328. The Gonzaga family were great collectors and patrons of the arts. The palace is a vast collection of buildings and courtyards of differing styles and ages. There was an elaborate route set out for visitors, plenty of staff and CCTV cameras in place. We travelled through great rooms, around courtyards, up steps, down steps and round corners, but we saw barely another soul. We stopped for a coffee about half way round in an empty cafeteria. It was necessary to search our pockets for money because our bags had been taken for security. We did not know the time or where we were exactly in this vast place !

If you want to see something special, go and see the Ducal Palace NOW, before the crowds discover this hidden gem !

Ducal Palace is more than a palace; it's really a complex, and a magnificent complex at that. There are more than 500 rooms (not all open to the public), 15 courtyards, several little squares, hanging gardens, and many pieces of valuable art.

The Ducal Palace is also called the Gonzaga Palace . It consists of a series of buildings which date to different periods that were joined together in the course of the 13th to the 17th centuries. It made a "city within a city". The area covers over three hectares...quite immense! This Palace was almost abandoned in the early 1900's; some wings are still semi-abandoned or in the process of being renovated.

This is an incredible place with frescoes, tapestries, paintings, statues, gardens, and a multitude of architectual types.

My favorite room was "Galleria degli Specchi (Hall of Mirrors). There are frescoes in the vaulted ceiling and lunettes; the walls were redone in Neoclassic style, and the mirrors were an addition after 1779. There are many mythological and allegorical scenes; it's a perfect fusion between the artistic demands of the 16th and 18th centuries with 17th century marble busts. The most famous of the vaulting scenes are "Olympus" and the "Chariots of Day and Night" The horses of the chariots seem to turn when you reach the other end of the Gallery, and a picture of a woman pointing her finger seems to follow you from beginning to the end of the room!

This is not to be missed!

The Duomo or Cathedral of San Pietro is pre 11th Century, but today's facade dates to 1756. It's made in Carrara marble by a Roman architect in a style which combined the Neoclassic purism with the Mannerist and the Baroque.

This church has been rebuilt more than once. Gothic chapels still remain on the right flank while the bell tower is Romanesque. The inside was completely redone after a fire in 1545. It is a Latin-cross basilica. The dome fresco is of the "Glory of Paradise" and next to the altar, on the left, is the "Vision of Saint John Evangelist".

The adjacent Sacristy, initially was part of the larger chapel. It has vine tendrils and medallions of the school of Mantegna which refer to the "Mysteries of the Virgin" on the ceiling.

There is a house behind the cathedral which belongs to the Canons, where Rigoletto (on whom Verdi based his opera) is said to have lived. There is also a statue of him in the courtyard.

Basilica of Sant'Andrea is a Renaissance church and was first constructed to house the blood of Christ which was brought to Mantova (Mantua) the soldier who pierced the side of Christ on the cross; he was converted to Christianity and gathered earth bathed in Christ's blood.

He hid it in jars, and it was not discovered until 804 (8 centuries later). A sanctuary was built for these holy relics to be worshipped. There have been many renovations of the church, and 300 years lapsed between the original design and the final realization.

We found the interior to be airy and richly decorated. It has a Latin-cross plan, with a nave and square side chapels alternating with smaller chapels covered by cupolas.

We could not take interior pictures.

In the sixth chapel is an altarpiece with the Nativity, a fresco of the Crucifixion and the Discovery of the Most Precious Blood. There is a sarcophagi on either side of the altar which contain the relics of Longinus, the saint who brought the blood of Christ to Mantova (Mantua), and of Saint Gregorius Nazianzeno.

The dome of this church is huge and extraordinary. It is called a "Juvarra's Dome". The church is so large that it's impossible to remember everything about it. It is a site not to be missed.