Mantova History and Facts

Mantova is a city in the Lombard Region of Italy about 100 miles east of Milan and located in the middle of a plain between the Po and Mincio Rivers.

The origins of Mantova seem to belong to the realms of legend, which reports that Mantova was founded by Mantus, daughter of Tiresias.  
Neolithic remains have been found in the area, as well as remains from the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Villanova Age, which began about 1000 B.C.
Excavations have also brought to light the remains of an ancient Etruscan market city, which sets Mantova as one of the furthest points reached by the Etruscans in their expansion to the northeast in the 6th century.
Mantova is in the center of a wide, fertile plain whose exceptional gentle, green landscape provided inspiration for Virgilio (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70-10 B.C.), the poet and author of “The Aeneid” and “The Georgics”.
The Roman conquest reached Mantova in 220 B.C. At the time the settlement was a small fortified town, whose inhabitants depended primarily on farming for their existence.  With the fall of the Roman Empire (476 A.D.) and the invasions of the Goths, Byzantines, Longobards and Francs, Mantova grew quickly and became a permanent settlement.
In about 1000 A.D., it became part of the feudal holdings of the Canossa Family. Mantova developed and became the City of Mantova under the rule of this family’s last descendent, Countess Matilde Canossa. The only remaining monument dating back to this period is the beautiful Rotonda di San Lorenzo Church, with its circular base, that was erected on what remained of a pagan temple. After the death of the Countess (1115 A.D.), the people of Mantova in an attempt to defend their city’s sovereignty against the forces of the Sacred Roman Empire that was descending from Germany, declared Mantova to be a “Free Commune”.
During this long period of time, the city was enriched with some magnificent buildings including the Podestà building and the Ragione building. In 1198, Alberto Pitentino, a hydraulic engineer, regulated the flow of the Mincio River so as to create four lakes surrounding the city. These lakes provided a natural defense barrier that lasted for centuries. The new political-administrative center grew gradually with the construction of municipal buildings and market squares. These were the symbols of increasing prestige from both the political and commercial points of view. Some of the buildings dating from this period still exist.

From 1328 to 1707, the history of Mantova was bound up with the Gonzaga dynasty, rich landowners who had at first sought power as a means of strengthening their economic situation, but then came to conduct themselves as out and out princes. A permanent symbol of their wealth and power is the Palazzo Ducale, their main residence extending over an area of roughly 34,000 square meters between Piazza Sordello and the lakes, which is a complex of different buildings constructed along their ruling time span.
During the long rule of the Gonzaga, the final walls and new neighborhoods were built. Around 1370, the town was surrounded by walls and stretched to the lake with St.George’s Castle. The so-called “town in the town” took shape. The 15th century was the beginning of the artistic magnificence and political prestige that lasted until the mid-17th century, which turned Mantova into “a wonderful town worth a journey of 1000 miles” as Torquato Tasso wrote. Gianfrancesco Gonzaga called Pisanello to Mantova and while the political and expansion plans of the Gonzaga were turned into reality, the base was laid for the Renaissance period with its protagonist, Ludovico II, Lord of Mantova from 1444 to 1478. Great artists like Luca Fancelli, Leon Battista Alberti, Andrea Mantegna and others were summoned to town. Patronage and artistic ardor achieved their greatest magnificence with Isabella d’Este, who surrounded herself with men of letters and artists.
In 1524, Giulio Romano, one of the undisputed masters of Mannerism, was active in the city. He worked on the Corte Nuova of the Palazzo Ducale, on the Duomo, on country houses and residences of the aristocracy, on secular buildings like the Pescherie, on the planning of the city and on Palazzo Te, his masterpiece. Mantova became one of the protagonists of the great Renaissance period of Italian art.
The splendor of the Gonzaga court continued under the dukes Francesco III, Guglielmo and above all Vincenzo I (1587-1612), who filled Mantova with more works of art.
The crisis brought about by the folly and prodigality of the last dukes, already acute enough in 1627 to oblige Vincenzo II to sell part of his collection of paintings to King Charles I of England. This adding to the problem of succession led to a subsequent downfall. The Imperial Armies of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg plundered Mantova and left behind a tragic legacy: the plague of 1630, which marked the fateful decline of the dukedom. The population decreased drastically and as the decline of the Gonzaga family and economy. The Emperor deposed the last Duke.
In 1707, the Austrian Hapsburgs put an end to the Gonzaga rule. Under Austrian administration the city underwent a new period of growth, evidence for which is provided by such significant realizations as the dome of Sant’Andrea, Antonio Bibiena’s Teatro Scientifico with the adjoining Accademia Virgiliana and more. Conquered after a long siege by Napoleon’s troops Mantova returned to Austria in 1814. It became one of the platforms of the system of fortresses known as the Quadrilateral with Peschiera, Verona and Legnago. The building renovations of these years, which achieved one of its best examples with the Teatro Sociale, partly changed Renaissance Mantova and the town started to take on its present day appearance. Lake Paiolo was drained and the Magistrale ditch was filled with earth.
The last part of the 19th century, which for Mantova signified union with the kingdom of Italy, after the third war of independence, in October 1866, was marked by an expansion into the hinterland.

Mantova’s educational institutions include the Academy of Sciences and Art founded by the Empress Maria Theresa and the Palazzo degli Studi formerly a Jesuit College. Industries include dairying, farming, raising livestock, agribusiness, tourism and manufacturing agricultural machinery, breeding equipment, packaging equipment, household products, fashion, lighting engineering, chipboards.

Agricultural products include fine wine, pasta, cheese and rice. About half of Italy’s prosciutto ham is produced around Mantova, as well as Parmesan cheese and Grana Padano Cheese.