Mantova is a very appealing and walkable town, with four interlocking piazzas in the centre surrounded by civic buildings and churches. Unfortunately an earthquake in 2012 resulted in damage to some buildings which are still under repair.
The Gonzaga family was one of Renaissance Italy’s richest and most powerful families and ruled in Mantova for 300 years. Lodovico II gave the city a facelift when a visiting Pope complained it was a backwater, Francesco II swelled the family coffers as a mercenary while his wife Isabella D’Este spent it on a huge collection of art and Federico II married into a ducal title and built Palazzo Te but then Vicenzo I squandered the lot in debauchery, leaving Mantova open to rule by the Hapsburgs.
The Palazzo Ducale is an enormous complex, in its heyday convering 34,000 sqm, with a population of over 1000. The highlight here is the the amazing Camera degli Sposi or bridal chamber, commissioned by Lodovicio and frescoed by Andrea Mantega. There are interesting scenes of the Gonzaga family on two walls and the ceiling has a beautiful trompe d’oeil of a balustrade and open sky above.
In other rooms there there were elaborate ceilings and lots of paintings but we particularly liked a garden room, looking out over a hanging garden, which must have been quite a showstopper in its day.
Several rooms are decorated with grotesque decoration which was first used in Ancient Rome, with fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms interwoven with foliage. It was copied in the 15C, and again in even more refined form in the 18C when the Hapsburgs redecorated parts of the palazzo.
The Hapsburg heritage also includes the small but perfectly formed Teatro Bibiena Mozart played his Italian debut here when young and his father wrote to his wife “Today I saw the most beautiful theatre in the world”.
Palazzo Te is the masterpiece of Guilio Romano built as a pleasure palace for Federico II to share with his mistress Isabella Boschetta, originally on an island linked to the mainland only by a bridge.
The motif of a salamander is found throughout the palazzo because they were thought to be asexual and Federico’s accompanying motto of ‘What this lacks torments me’ is a reference to his legendary appetites.
The decorative scheme in the rooms of the ground floor is amazing, every one sumptuous, especially in the Camera di Amore e Psiche, where erotic frescos romp round the walls. See if you can see the salamander.
The Camera dei Giganti shows the destruction of the giants by the gods and a continuous fresco covers every part of the walls and ceiling …
The Giardini di Piazza Virgiliana, named for the Roman poet Virgil who was born here gets a mention, especially as it was just by our B&B and it was on our route into town.
Mantova is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century, as the city’s defence system and we enjoyed walking round, watching walkers, cyclists, dog-walkers and fishermen. There are also small canals or ria which cross the town between the buildings.
One afternoon we took a boat trip which gave us a good view of the city from the water and took us to the Mincio nature reserve which is rich in birdlife.
We’ve tried a number of local specialities, the most famous here being tortelli di zucca which we knew was ravioli with pumpkin filling, served with a little melted butter drizzled over, but we were really surprised by the sweet amaretti flavour when we tried it.
I also tried stracotto del cavello which was delicious, but barely indistinguishable from a good beef stew despite being horse …
… and also luccio en salsa or pike in a warm pepper and olive sauce which was also good.
There are several local sweet treats including sbrisolina (a crumbly vanilla flavoured biscuit) …
… torta tagliatella (crispy as if made with pasta and almond flavoured) and torta elvezia (thin layers of almond sponge sandwiched with zabaglione) …
… and we have tried them all …all very sweet! We have also had the best gelati here, mine cream cheese and pear and pumpkin and amaretti, Chris’s ricotta and peach and pistachio!
And there is always time for another Aperol moment …
We’ve really enjoyed our stay in Mantova … but time to move one once more, north this time to Lake Garda.
Off Travelling Together 