Sabbioneta Travel Guide

I didn't see much life during my day in Sabbioneta, but I saw some... A flea market, for one thing. And suddenly, at Noon, just as I was getting hungry, I walked past a lively bar and heard laughing. I went in, full of hope.

There was a huge punch bowl, full of green liquid, and a big Viagra sign over the bar. I made my way through tables full of men who seemed on the verge of rioting. The bar owners were busy running around, trying to keep everyone content. I ordered a glass of the green punch, it was good.

My pleasure was short-lived. The woman behind the bar who seemed so intent on keeping all the men in the place happy was rushing around, wiping her hands on her apron and joking in a rasped voice with everyone but me. I asked her what was in that delicious aperitivo. She screamed at me "Non so, signora! Son diversi ingredienti!" and never looked my way again.

I was going to eat there but with this kind of wild Walkyrie, no way! I paid my dues to the guy at the bar, who didn't seem to like outsiders any more than his wife or sister did... and went to eat at an Osteria right down the alley from there.

Now... that place was really cool. The owner had a beard, a soft and pleasant face, and he cared about all his guests. He looked like a guy from '68. I ate the best plate of tortellini I ever had there. I'll find the card before long I hope. I remember the sign said "Osteria Wine Bar Boulevard" I also had a great ice cream dessert and an expresso, all for 10 Euros.

Here's a treet in Sabbioneta with flowers... a sure sign that somebody must live here!

During my macabre walk around the place, I saw the Palazzo Giardino, a few minutes' walk from the main piazza. Not a sound there either, but before I forget, I should say... I never saw so many flies! Everywhere in Sabbioneta, it was like being in "Les Mouches" by Jean-Paul Sartre!!!

Anyway... the Palazzo Giardino houses magnificent ceilings and frescoes. The building dates back to 1584. Once I got back home, I checked my reference to Sabbioneta, which is H.V. Morton 'A Traveler in Italy' -- and found this about Palazzo Giardino:
"A building of this elegance and style was not to be seen in England for another fifty years, when Inigo Jones built the banquet hall of Whitehall Palace. In England, Elizabeth had been on the throne for twenty-six years, Mary Stuart was still alive, the Armada was four years away, and Shakespeare, aged twenty, had not been yeard of."

This church on the main square contains the tomb of Vespasiano, Duke of Gonzaga. I was intrigued to see the silent masses walking past me like ghosts and being swallowed into the Incoronata... so I went in for a look. It was a typical Sunday service, there was no special awe inside and I went back into the midday sun without regret.

By that time, the place was more eery than ever. Everyone was at mass, so not surprising.

Vespasiano once said "My only amusement is to raise new walls and to give life to material work in contrast to my empty soul." I once read that Byron would have gotten along with the Duke... they both shared the same gloom.

You can see the Chiesa dell'Incoronata's steeple, at the end of the shaded ghost street here. By this time, I'm thinking "gimme a forest!"

Walking around Sabbioneta is a real quiet pleasure. Just boring enough to let you focus on your own sensations, nothing will make you lose your gloomy focus.

What I loved most of all was all the deserted streets, the old walls, stucco, frescoed niches. Here and there, you might see a group of Italian tourists following a well-informed guide. That disturbed me a little but they never linger long enough to interrupt your contemplation in a significant way.

The walls seem overly renovated but I don't know, maybe they're the original stuff, from Vespasiano's time. One thing I loved is that those walls hold iron brackets and funnels where torches used to be hung at night. They liked to be safe in the old days too, when they went out looking for Nightlife!

The Palazzo Ducale is in the main piazza in Sabbioneta. It's now the town hall.

Started in 1554, this ducal Palace contains wonderful equestrian statues of the Gonzagas, the horses all prancing nervously while the cavaliers remain impassive. These guys were solid stock! Anyway, the whole scene was like something out of Shakespeare.

The square was silent and deserted, at that moment. Later, church bells chimed and people rushed across the square in numbers... they all disappeared into the church, without a sound.

This was an antique shop that looked like a a scrap metal yard at first. But it held a strange appeal and I spent quite a long time in and around it. The kind of place where time stands still, where what I vaguely remembered reading many years ago about the founder of this city came back to the surface in bits and pieces.

Vespasiano, Duke of Gonzaga, founded Sabbioneta in the 16th century. It was to be the ideal city and no one before him had attempted to built a completely new city. He dreamed of being a patron of the arts and drew up his plans... I guess competition was strong in those days between patrons... the Medicis were probably already doing well in Florence. But Vespasiano had a job as Commander of Spanish troops and was called away to serve the King of Spain. He eventually retired in Sabbioneta but his whole life seems to have been tragic... and his city bears the mark of gloom.

There was a man in the antique restauration shop, pleasant enough, but who didn't seem to know anything about the history of the place. I felt a bit like I was in Twilight Zone...