Featured Accommodation

This town stands 19 m. above sea level on the right bank of the Mincio River, at the point in which the river bends, widening to form Lakes Superiore, di Mezzo and Inferiore. Probably of Etruscan origin, it was occupied first by the local Gauls and then by the Romans in the 3rd century BC. After the fall of the Empire, it was subjected to various periods of Barbarian rule, and became a free municipality after forming part of Matilde di Canossa feudal dominions (11th-12th century). In 1328, Gonzaga rule began and was to last for four centuries; under the Gonzagas the town grew in political importance and became the seat of one of the richest and most refined of the Renaissance courts. In 1707 Mantua passed to the Hapsburgs who, in 1844, made it one of the linchpins, with Verona, Legnago and Peschiera, of the famous `quadrilateral' defence system. Then followed the Italian Risorgimento.

Monuments: Palazzo Ducale or Reggia dei Gonzaga (13th-18th century, with the Mantegna frescoes in the ... Read More...

Articles