Abroad, Mantua is among the least known Italian gems, yet it is an extraordinary city, capable of offering the highest history, nature, and gastronomy experiences. As Torquato Tasso wrote (one of the many artists who left a mark here with Pisanello, Mantegna, Giulio Romano, Rubens, and Monteverdi): "This is a splendid city, worthy of a thousand-mile journey to visit it." Since July 2008, it has been listed, with the nearby Sabbioneta, among UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Meanwhile, and relatively unknown by most Italians, it's built around three lakes fed by the Mincio river. Simply, they are called Lago Superiore, Inferiore, and di Mezzo. Perhaps the best way to get closer to this Lombard city is by water. Mantua will then be quick to reveal its beauties of art and architecture.
Despite the typically Po Valley heat and humidity, Mantua is also worth visiting in July or August, when thousands of lotus flowers bloom on Lake Superior. How did flowers from Southeast Asia get to the Po Valley? The lotus flower was introduced to Lake Superior in 1921 by a young student of natural sciences, Maria Pellegreffi, who brought some Nelumbium rhizomes from the University of Parma, obtained from Italian missionaries to China. Year after year, the pink petals have subtracted space from the native water lilies. Since then, they've become the symbol of the city of the Gonzaga, as well as Mincio river views.
The boat trip with Barcaioli del Mincio (barcaioli@fiumemincio.it)lasts a couple of hours, at a cost of around 10 euros. The boats are eco-sustainable and equipped for transporting people with disabilities and bicycles.
Ducal Palace
Heart and symbol of Mantua, the Ducal Palace unfolds between Piazza Sordello (the ancient square of San Pietro) and the Lower Lake. It reached its organic form in the first half of the 16th century, when it became a single, grandiose architectural complex corresponding to the oldest city district. The Gonzaga family lived there from 1328 to 1707, when the last duke, Ferdinando Carlo, was sent into exile. On April 2 of that year, the House of Austria claimed direct rule over the Mantuan Duchy, and the Habsburg governorate had begun.
The Palace has more than a thousand rooms and gardens, courtyards, loggias, warehouses, and cellars stacked over centuries to form a single element of 35,000 sq. m. It's the sixth largest palace in Europe after the Vatican palaces, the Louvre Palace, the Royal Palace of Versailles, the Royal Palace of Caserta, and the Castle of Fontainebleau.
Palazzo Te and Sala dei Giganti
Let's be clear: the Palace has nothing to do with the amber drink (te means tea in Italian). Among several interpretations of its name, the most reliable is that the palace originated at the intersection of two "T" roads, which later became "Te" for euphonic reasons. Another hypothesis refers to "tejetus," which is the name of typical thatched-roof hut sites, called "teze."
Federico II Gonzaga wanted to transform the old family stables into a flamboyant representative villa for his sumptuous receptions, as well as his secret love affairs with Isabella Boschetti. The result is a glory of Italian architecture, hosting the dynamic Sala dei Giganti by Giulio Romano, which narrates, free of any spatial constraint, the story of the Fall of the Giants from Ovid's "Metamorphosis." The scene is set at the moment when divine revenge is unleashed from the sky. Looking at it gives the sense of a staggering power because Giulio Romano has eliminated any gap between the horizontal and vertical planes, smoothed the corners between the walls and the vault where Zeus dominates, and is ready to hurl his thunderbolts.