{"id":10459,"date":"2023-04-12T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walks.friday.ie\/?p=10459"},"modified":"2023-04-12T09:29:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T08:29:00","slug":"mantua-city-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/things-to-do\/mantua-city-guide","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Mantua, Italy: Art, Cuisine, History, & More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mantua is a tiny medieval city that punches way above its weight in history, architectural splendor, and delicious cuisine. Considered one of the main artistic and cultural hubs in Northern Italy, its ce<\/em>ntro storico<\/em>, or historical city center, and nearby\u00a0Sabbioneta form a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Historic,

Discover the historic city of Mantua. Photo credit: Sergio Locatelli<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Mantua owes a lot of its prestige to the wealthy and powerful Gonzaga family (yes, the American university is named after one of them), who ruled the city for nearly four centuries. Through their patronage, some of the best artists, musicians, and writers of their day came to the city, but regardless of who was paying the bills, Mantua has long seemed to have something in the water that inspired artists and musicians. The Roman poet Virgil was born nearby. \u00a0The town was used as a setting of Giuseppe Verdi\u2019s Opera, Rigoletto<\/em>\u00a0and was also the place of Romeo\u2019s exile in\u00a0Romeo and Juliet.<\/em>\u00a0Antonio Vivaldi wrote many of his most famous operas and concerti while employed by Mantua in the 18th century. Mantua was also the home of Andrea Mantegna, a Renaissance painter perhaps most known for his\u00a0Lamentation over the Dead Christ<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 famous for the shocking image and unique angle of Christ as a corpse.<\/p>\n

Though equidistant from\u00a0Milan<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Venice<\/a>, and a neighbor of\u00a0Verona<\/a>, Mantua is all too often ignored by tourists. But it probably won\u2019t stay that way for long. Mantua was declared the Italian Capital of Culture in 2016 and won the title of European Capital of Gastronomy for 2017. We recommend that you see it sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

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