Mantua

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Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantoa) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name.

Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes formed by the water of river Mincio descending from the Lake of Garda: these are called Lago Superiore, di Mezzo and Inferiore ("Superior", "Middle" and "Inferior" Lakes). The fourth lake created in the Middle Ages for the defence of the city, Lake Paiolo, has been dried at the end of the 18th century.

The city was part of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet: here Romeo is sent into exile for killing Tybalt Capulet in a swordfight. Romeo subsequently leaves Mantua and returns to Verona when he hears his love, Juliet, has died.

History

The town was founded presumably around 2000 BC on the banks of the Mincio river, a sort of island among its waters (and indeed safe natural protection), and in the 6th century BC was an Etruscan village which the tradition of that people described as re-founded by Ocno. The name derives from Mantus, an Etruscan god of Hades. After being conquered by the Cenomani, a Gaul tribe, the Romans conquered it between the first and second Punic wars, confusing Mantus with Manto, a daughter of Tyresia (Tiresias). The new settlement was populated with veteran soldiers of Augustus. The most famous ancient citizen of Mantua is the poet Publius Virgilius Maro, Virgil (Mantua me genuit), who was born near the city in 70 BC.

After the decay of the Roman Empire, Mantua was invaded by Goths, Byzantines, Longobards and Franks. In the 11th century it became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Toscana. Last ruler of the family was the famous countess Matilde of Canossa (d. 1115). According to the legend, she ordered the construction of the precious "[Rotonda di San Lorenzo]" (1082).

After the death of Matilde of Canossa, Mantua became a Free Commune, and strenuously defended its freedom against the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century and 13th centuries. In 1198 Alberto Pitentino optimised the course of the Mincio, creating what Mantuans call "the four lakes", reinforcing its natural protection.

During the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power in 1273. His family ruled Mantua for the next century, making it more prosperous and artistically beautiful. On August 16, 1328, the last Bonacolsi, Rinaldo, was overthrown in a revolt backed by the Gonzaga, a family of possidents, namely the 60 y.o. Luigi and his sons Guido, Filippino and Feltrino. Luigi Gonzaga, who had been podestà of the city in 1318, was elected "People's Captain". The Gonzaga built new walls with five gates and renovated the architecture of the city in the 14th century, but the political situation in the city did not settle until the third Gonzaga, Ludovico I of Gonzaga, eliminated his relatives seizing the power for himself.

Through a payment of 120,000 golden florins, in 1433 Gianfrancesco I of Gonzaga was appointed Marquis of Mantua by Emperor Sigismund, whose daughter Barbara of Brandenburg he married. In 1459 Pope Pius II held in Mantua a great diet to proclaim a crusade against the Turks. Under Francesco II of Gonzaga the famous Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna worked in Mantua as court painter, producing some of his most outstanding works.

First duke of Mantova was Federico II of Gonzaga, who acquired the title from Emperor Charles V in 1530. Federico commissioned Giulio Romano the construction of the famous Palazzo del Te, in the periphery of the city, and profoundly improved the urbanistic asset of the city. This is what the poet Torquato Tasso wrote about Mantua in 1586:

This is a very beautiful city and worthy one move a thousand miles to see it

In 1624 Francesco IV moved the duke's seat to a new residence the Favorita, designed by the architect Nicolò Sebregondi.

In 1627, the direct line of the Gonzaga family came to an end with the vicious and weak Vincenzo II, and the town slowly declined under the new rulers, the Gonzaga Nevers, a cadet French branch of the family: in 1630 an Imperial army of 36,000 Landsknecht mercenaries besieged Mantua, bringing the plague with them. Mantua never recovered from this disaster. Duke Ferdinand, an inept whose only aim was to hold parties and theatrical representations, allied with France in Spanish Succession War. After the defeat of the latter, he took refuge in Venice carrying with him a thousand pictures. At his death, in 1708, he was declared deposed and his family lost Mantua forever in favour of the Habsburgs of Austria.

Under Austrian rule, Mantua enjoyed a revival, and during this period the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, the Scientific Theatre, and numerous Palaces were built.

On June 4 1796, during the Napoleonic Wars, Mantua was sieged by Napoleon as a move againts Austria, who joined the First Coalition. Austrian and Russian attempts to break the siege failed, but spread the French thin enough to abandon the siege on 31 July to fight other battles. The siege resumed on August 24. In early February the city surrendered and the region came under French administration.

After the brief French rule, Mantua returned to Austria in 1814, becoming one of the Quadrilatero fortress cities in northern Italy. Agitation against Austria cumulated in a revolt from 1851-1855, which was suppressed by the Austrian army. One of the most famous episodes of Italian Risorgimento, took place in the small valley of Belfiore, when a group of rebels was hung by the Austrians.

In 1866, Mantua was incorporated in a united Italy by the king of Sardinia.

See also:

• Duchy of Mantua.

Main sights

The Gonzaga protected art and culture, and hosted several important artists like Leone Battista Alberti, Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Romano, Donatello, Luca Fancelli and Nicolò Sebregondi. Though many of the masterworks have been dispersed, the cultural value of Mantua is anyway outstanding. Many of the monuments are examples of a unique patrimony in patrician buildings and in Italian architecture.

Main monuments include:

• The Palazzo del Te (1525-1535), a creation of Giulio Romano (who lived in Mantua in his final years)in the style of mature Renaissance and with some hints of a certain post-Raphaelian mannerism. It was the summer residential villa of Frederick II of Gonzaga. It hosts the Museo Civico (with the donations of Arnoldo Mondadori, one of the most important Italian publishers, and Ugo Sissa, a Mantuan architect who worked in Iraq from where he brought back important Mesopotamian artworks)
• The Palazzo Ducale : the complex of the Ducal Palace, famous residence of the Gonzaga family, is made up by a number of buildings, courtyards and gardens gathered around the Palazzo del Capitano, the Magna Domus, and the Castle of St. George.
• The Basilica of Sant'Andrea
• The Duomo
• The Rotonda di San Lorenzo
• The Bibiena Theater
• The church of San Sebastiano
• The Palazzo Vescovile ("Bishops Palace")
• The Palazzo degli Uberti
• The Torre della Gabbia ("Cage Tower")
• The Palazzo del Podestà
• The Palazzo della Ragione with the Tower of the Clock
• The Palazzo Vecchio that hosts the museum of Tazio Nuvolari
• The Palazzo Bonacolsi

Trivia

• An annual survey of Legambiente (a ecologist movement of Italy) declared in 2005 Mantua as the most liveable city of the country. The study is based on levels of pollution, quality of life, traffic of cars, public transportation and others. [link]
• In William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo spends his period of exile - his punishment for killing Tybalt - in Mantua. Also, in his play Taming of the Shrew, the schoolmaster who pretends to be Lucentio’s father, Vincentio, is from this city.
• Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto (Based on Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse) is set in Mantua. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Venice forced him to move the action from France to Mantua.
• Since 1996 Mantua has hosted the Festivaletteratura, one of the most renowned literary events in Europe.

Twin cities

• - Azuchi, Japan
• - Madison, Wisconsin, USA
• - Charleville-Mézières, France
• - Nevers, France
• - Weingarten, Germany

Transportation

Mantua lies across the Milan-Codogno-Cremona-Mantova. By car, it can be reached through the A4 (Milan-Venice) Higway to Verona, and from there Highway A22 (Brennero-Modena). Otherwise, through the State road 415 (Milan-Cremona) to Cremona, and from there State road 10 (Cremona-Mantova).

The closest airport is Verona-Villafranca.

External links

• [Palazzo Te] (in Italian)

 

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