Mantua and Sabbioneta

I visited Mantua two times already, first, as a stop during the trip from the Garda Lake in direction to Tuscany and Umbria. My first impression from historical town located between lakes of river Mincio was quite good but not exceptional. I returned to Mantua this year, and the reason was to visit S Andrea church and Palazzo Te. I skipped Palazzo Ducale even this time because it looked too vast and expansive to me…

S Andrea is really a masterpiece, quality of which can be recognized mostly in the interior. The entire building documents how architects tried to find a way from Middle Ages towards modern times… The main façade (PHOTO) looks a bit odd demonstrating that it is a experiment of the architect to find a balance between exterior and interior. It proves that doing a progress from dark ages towards bright future was a difficult task... The interior is really stunning with colorful paintings and decorations, which are integrated into a consistent structure of highest qualities.

My next stop was Palazzo Te that is quite distant from the main squares between Palazzo Ducale and S Andrea, but it is definitely worth a detour. From outside it looks quite strict and clean, but the interiors are incredibly decorated in a style of mannerism. I knew only imitations built by Italian architects in Czechia and central Europe, but I must say that Palazzao Te is a masterpiece.

I also did an attempt to visit Sabbioneta: I …

The towns of Mantua (Mantova in Italian) and Sabbioneta are paired into a single World Heritage site on the basis of representing two different facets of Renaissance city planning: the former an example of an existing city rebuilt and renewed, the latter a completely new town built according to the prevailing concepts of the ideal town of the time.

You can certainly see Renaissance influence in the architecture and un-medieval wideness of some of the streets around Mantua’s center. The most interesting architecture in town is concentrated around its historic core, focused on Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Sordello. The latter, wide and spacious, is home to the Mantua Cathedral, the Ducal Palace, and a host of other impressive buildings. The time I allocated for seeing the town allowed me to visit the cathedral (ok, but not surpassingly remarkable) and the palace, which offers a couple of dozen of increasingly impressive spaces, sparsely furnished but boasting magnificent ceilings and wall frescoes and decorations. There is a number of visually arresting mansions and churches on nearby streets and squares.

Sabbioneta has a small grid-like core of streets that forms the basis for its inclusion on the UNESCO list. I did not find anything exceptional there and left underwhelmed and disappointed. On a Saturday afternoon, not helped at all by the intermittent rain, the town looked nearly deserted and far from festive or even remarkable. I probably should have spent more time in Mantua instead. The key features of …

I visited this WHS several times. Mantua is a special place in the Po valley with a truly unique panoramic view of the whole city just before approaching the main street. Both cities were ruled by the Gonzaga family and they played an important role in the dissemination of Renaissance culture.

Mantua was added late to the WH list, only in 2008. At that time, reading the particularly weak AB evaluation, I was wondering if it was worthy enough. The combination with Sabbioneta seemed difficult to explain, and there was no clear reason given why it would distinguish itself from other Italian Renaissance cities. Only recently I started to become more interested in Art History, even just finished a course on it as part of my General Cultural Sciences studies. Mantua popped up there quite prominently. It even got 2 entries among the 101 masterworks of European art and architecture. So I became very interested in visiting.

The town is a bit far from everywhere, and it took me 2 hours to get there on a local train from Ferrara. From the train station, it is a walk of another 15 minutes or so to the heart of the city, through quite unimpressive streets. My first goal was the Sant’Andrea basilica, one of the 2 “masterpieces”. Its dome can be seen from afar, but finding the entrance is a lot more difficult. The façade of this 15th-century church is dwarfed by the neighbouring tower and shopping arcades. Leon Battista Alberti designed this church using the triumphal arch motif in both the interior and the façade. Inside I was surprised by how big it is. Unfortunately, the nave is currently totally hidden under scaffoldings. At the back though, restorations of the dome and transept have been finished, showing the same triumphal …

Those who travel to Mantua by car, should definitely take the SS10 from the east. The first view of the city “skyline” is overwhelming. From this perspective, the buildings are perfectly arranged: the Palazzo Ducale, the Castello San Giogio and the church towers. The city is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, which formerly served as a defence system and now contribute to the special flair of the city.

We enjoyed it a lot to stroll through the historic centre. The main sights are located on three contiguous squares. The main square, the Piazza Sordello, is dominated by the Palazzo Ducale, a huge complex, which consists of several buildings with courtyards, gardens and connecting corridors. It is virtually a small city in itself. Parts of the palace can be visited, the most impressive room is the Camera degli Sposi with frescoes by Andrea Mantegna. Another highlight was the Basilica Sant'Andrea. We were extremely impressed, although the interior was under renovation and the nave was partially hidden by scaffolding (our visit was in August 2011). In the transept and the apse the restoration was already completed, so we could see the effects of the restoration in comparison to the parts not yet renewed. It will look magnificient when everything is finished.

We spent two hot summer days and nights in Mantua. The restaurants and cafés were full with tourists and locals until late in the evening, it was very atmospheric. Exactly what you would expect from the summer in an …

I do not understand why these two towns are linked in one site; there do not appear to have any physical connection. Mantova is reached by train from Verona and Padova (in the Veneto) while Sabbioneta is reached by bus from Parma or Casalmaggiore.

From Mantova station a bus CC circulates around the sites, first to Piazza Erbe for Piazzas Sordello and Broletto and the Ducal Palace, then to Porta Pusteria for Palazzo Te.

The pristine town of Sabbioneta is so small that it can easily be walked around.

There is a real wow factor when approaching Mantua from road over ponte San Girgio, especially at night. The Castle and Palace were magnificently lit up as we crossed the lake that surrounds the city on 3 sides. We would have missed this entry had it not been for a strike on the Italian train system that led us to meet some very accommodating Mantovani's who offered to drive us from Verona, and take us on a special detour to see this great entrance to the city. So Grazie mille Mauro, Claudia and Daniel you made our introduction much more memorable.

The next morning we had a walk around the centre which is very pleasant. There are several cobbled squares and large churches to view. The Basilica of Sant'Andrea was an undoubted highlight and well worth some exploration, the interior is very impressive.

The main reason we decided to vist was to explore the sprawling Palazzo Ducale which takes up a whole quarter of the historic centre. It is mostly juts a standard rambling fortified palace with a few nice rooms, however it does contain a magnificent Bridal chapel painted by Mantegna which was an undoubted highlight of this trip for me. It was in courts like this that the renaissance really started to grow and develop and this impressive room is a great testament to this period.

Mantua was a nice place to spend half a day in, and in many other countries would be an absolute highlight. It …