Explorations of a lovely Northern Italian city full of wonderful palaces and churches.
Simply put, Mantua, Italy, is amazing. Somehow this town got the axe when I was planning a four-month backpacking adventure from November 2016-March 2017. Fate was in my favor. I was staying in Verona, not that far away. The bus schedule was not in my favor for going to Sirmone on Lake Garda, so a last-minute adventure to Mantua it was. So worth it.
Mantua (Mantova in Italian) was founded back in 2000 BCE. Yes, that long ago. It has changed a lot since then of course. Today, the town center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mantua is a must wander, full of amazing palaces, museums and churches. So much history in such a little space.
My first stop in Mantua was Palazzo Te, built in 1524-1534 for Frederico II Gongaza as a palace of leisure. It’s pretty fancy.
It took 10 years for plasterers and painters to finish the palace. They certainly didn’t leave much untouched.
Frederico really didn’t skimp on the ceiling decorations either.
The walls are covered as well in the same room.
Frederico had a wonderful decorator.
Frederico must have loved horses.
Now for a wander about town. Colorful like most Italian cities.
The Basilica of Sant’Andrea.
The interior of the church is just spectacular.
Another cool church next door is San Lorenzo. It’s awesomely round.
Pretty cool inside too. San Lorenzo is the oldest church in Mantua, most likely built on the site of a Roman temple to Venus, during the 11th century.
Next door to San Lorenzo is this cool building with a clock tower. The town market is held in the piazza in front.
Moving on to Piazza Sordello, where you can find the Ducal Palace. The pavement is made of cobblestones and is impossible to walk on. First let’s check out the Duomo (Cathedral) of Mantua.
Lots of frescoes going on in here as well.
The interior of the dome is pretty awesome as well.
The church also has a pretty ornate chapel.
Which also has an awesome dome.
Now to move on to the other side of Piazza Sordello and the Ducal Palace. The palace is made up of two separate museums (under one ticket) that shows different eras of the palace used by the Gonzaga family to rule Mantua.
All the rooms are super fancy as well. I entered the castle portion of the palace first where you can see late 14th century-early 15th century decorations. Different styles can be seen through the palace.
The original castle, the Castle of St. George, still survives and is part of the museum.
The palace expanded out from that original castle.
Back in the palace. Part of the palace still features some of the old decorations from the early days along this massive corridor.
Some of the earliest frescoes are in this area. These frescoes were uncovered in the 1960s and 1970s.
Now for the flamboyant part of the palace featuring work from the 16th-17th centuries.
The different parts of the palace were connected by richly decorated loggie (loggias in Italian).
A very richly decorated bedroom with an awesome ceiling.
It’s all celestial with paintings of the zodiac.
I love this garden style room.
Such a lovely room full of ancient gods. It probably would have been decorated with some plants and have been open to a garden.
Mantua is such a lovely city that not so much on the beaten path. It was a fantastic last minute day trip from Verona and was easy to reach by local trains. The palaces are wonderful, along with the city museum (which I didn’t cover here). This city is a must-see if you are doing an in-depth trip around Italy.
Check out more posts on the amazing country of Italy.
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Check out the rest of my Wandering series.
