Mantua
Mantua
Mantova (Italian) | |
---|---|
Comune di Mantova | |
Coordinates: 45°9′23″N 10°47′30″E / 45.15639°N 10.79167°E | |
Country | Italy |
Region | Lombardy |
Province | Mantua (MN) |
Frazioni | Castelletto Borgo, Cittadella, Curtatone, Formigosa, Frassino, Gambarara, Lunetta, Virgiliana |
Government | |
• Mayor | Mattia Palazzi (PD) |
Area | |
• Total | 63.97 km2 (24.70 sq mi) |
Elevation | 19 m (62 ft) |
Population (31 June 2009)[2] | |
• Total | 48,353 |
• Density | 760/km2 (2,000/sq mi) |
Demonyms |
|
UTC+2 (CEST) | |
Postal code | 46100 |
Dialing code | 0376 |
Patron saint | Saint Anselm |
Saint day | 18 March |
Website | www |
Mantua (
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the European Capital of Gastronomy, included in the Eastern Lombardy District (together with the cities of Bergamo, Brescia, and Cremona).
In 2008, Mantua's centro storico (old town) and Sabbioneta were declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family has made it one of the main artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole. Having one of the most splendid courts of Europe of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and early seventeenth centuries.[3] Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera; the city is also known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces, and the medieval and Renaissance cityscape. It is the city where the composer Monteverdi premiered his opera L'Orfeo and to where Romeo was banished in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil, who is commemorated by a statue at the lakeside park "Piazza Virgiliana".
Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century as the city's defence system. These lakes receive water from the River Mincio, a tributary of the River Po which descends from Lake Garda. The three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore ("Upper", "Middle", and "Lower" Lakes, respectively). A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which once served as a defensive water ring around the city, dried up at the end of the 18th century.
The area and its environs are important not only in naturalistic terms, but also anthropologically and historically; research has highlighted a number of human settlements scattered between Barche di Solferino and Bande di Cavriana, Castellaro and Isolone del Mincio. These dated, without interruption, from Neolithic times (5th–4th millennium BC) to the Bronze Age (2nd–1st millennium BC) and the Gallic phases (2nd–1st centuries BC), and ended with Roman residential settlements, which could be traced to the 3rd century AD.
In 2017, Legambiente ranked Mantua as the best Italian city for the quality of the life and environment.[4]
History
Mantua was an island settlement which was first established about the year 2000 BC on the banks of River Mincio, which flows from Lake Garda to the Adriatic Sea. In the 6th century BC, Mantua was an Etruscan village which, in the Etruscan tradition, was re-founded by Ocnus.[5][6]
The name may derive from the Etruscan god
After the Fall of the Roman Empire
After the fall of the
In the 11th century, Mantua became a possession of
Free Imperial City of Mantua
After the death of Matilda of Canossa, Mantua became a
Podesteria Rule
From 1215, the city was ruled under the podesteria of the Guelph poet-statesman Rambertino Buvalelli.
During the struggle between the Guelphs and the
House of Gonzaga
Ludovico Gonzaga, who had been
Through a payment of 120,000 golden
Duchy of Mantua
The first Duke of
From Gonzaga to Habsburg
In 1627, the direct line of the Gonzaga family came to an end with the vicious and weak
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.
Napoleonic Wars
In 1786, ten years before
On 4 July 1796 during the
Later, the city again passed into Napoleon's control and became a part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy. In 1810 Andreas Hofer was shot by Porta Giulia, a gate of the town at Borgo di Porto (Cittadella) for leading the insurrection in the County of Tyrol against Napoleon.
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
After the brief period of French rule, Mantua returned to Austria in 1814, becoming one of the
Unification of Italy
At the Battle of Solferino (Second Italian War of Independence) in 1859, the House of Savoy's Piedmont-Sardinia sided with the French Emperor Napoleon III against the Austrian Empire. Following Austria's defeat, Lombardy was ceded to France, who transferred Lombardy to Piedmont-Sardinia in return for Nice and Savoy.
Mantua, although a constituent province of Lombardy, still remained under the Austrian Empire along with Venetia. In 1866, Prussia-led
Monuments and sites of interest
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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Part of | Mantua and Sabbioneta |
Criteria | Cultural: ii, iii |
Reference | 1287-001 |
Inscription | 2008 (32nd Session) |
Area | 175ha |
Buffer zone | 1,900 ha |
The Gonzagas protected the arts and culture, and were hosts to several important artists such as
Religious architecture and sites
- Basilica of Sant'Andrea was begun in 1462 according to designs by Leon Battista Alberti but was finished only in the 18th century when was built the massive dome designed by Filippo Juvarra.
- Duomo(Cathedral of St Peter the Apostle)
- Rotonda di San Lorenzo
- Church of San Sebastiano
- Museo diocesano Francesco Gonzaga, art museum displaying sacred artworks, armor, coins, tapestries, pottery, ancient and contemporary paintings.
- Santa Paola, church built in the early 15th century by the will of Marchioness Francesco II.
- Santa Maria del Gradaro, church built starting from 1256 on the site where, according to the tradition, Saint Longinuswas buried. In 1772 it became a store, and was reconsecrated only in the 1950s.
Secular architecture and sites
- 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 Mesopotamianartworks).
- Castle of St. George with the Camera degli Sposi, a room frescoed by Andrea Mantegna.
- Palazzo Vescovile ("Bishops Palace")
- Palazzo degli Uberti
- Palazzo d'Arco, a Neoclassical palace erected by the eponymous noble family from Trento starting from 1746. It is home to a museum and painting gallery with works by Bernardino Luini, Alessandro Magnasco, Frans Pourbus the Younger, Anthony van Dyck and a painting cycle by Giuseppe Bazzani.
- Torre della Gabbia ("Cage Tower")
- Palazzo del Podestà, Mantua
- Palazzo della Ragione with the Torre dell'Orologio
- Palazzo Bonacolsi
- Palazzo Valenti Gonzaga, an example of Baroque architecture and decoration, with frescoes attributed to Flemish painter Frans Geffels. The façade of the palace was designed by Nicolò Sebregondi.
- Antonio Bibiena in 1767–1769. Inaugurated officially on 3 December 1769 and on 16 January 1770, thirteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartplayed a concert.
- Casa del Mercato, a frescoed Renaissance building designed by Luca Fancelli in 1462 and later used by Andrea Mantegna.
- House of Mantegna, facing the church of San Sebastiano. It was built by the eponymous artist starting from 1476, and has plan with a circular internal court included within an external square building. It is now used for temporary exhibitions.
Transport
Car
By car, Mantova can be reached on the A4 (Milan-Venice) Highway up to Verona, then the
Railway
Air
The closest airport is
Bus
Local bus services, urbano (within the city area and suburbs) and interurbano (within the surrounding towns and villages) are provided by APAM.
Cuisine
Miscellaneous
- An annual survey of Legambiente (an ecologist movement of Italy) in 2005 declared Mantua the most 'liveable' city of the country. The study was based on levels of pollution, quality of life, traffic, and public transport, among other criteria.[13]
- The body of Saint Longinus, twice recovered and lost, was asserted to have been found once more at Mantua in 1304, together with the Holy Sponge stained with Christ's blood.
- The composer San Marco, Venice.
- Since 1997 Mantua has hosted the Festivaletteratura, one of the most renowned literary events in Europe.
- In 2007 the remains of two people, known as the Lovers of Valdaro, were discovered during the construction of a factory. The remains are thought to be between 5000 and 6000 years old. It is speculated that the remains are of two young lovers because the two skeletons appear to be embracing.[14]
- In May 2012, a deadly earthquake struck Northern Italy, causing damage to some historic buildings in Mantua, including the Palazzo Ducale. After months of repair, the Palazzo reopened its doors in September 2012.
- The composer Antonio Vivaldi was employed by the Governor of Mantua in the period 1718–1720. Mantua inspired him to write the Four Seasons and has been a city of note in Italy to enjoy the seasonal variations since.
Government
Since local government political reorganization in 1993, Mantua has been governed by the City Council of Mantua. Voters elect directly 33 councilors and the Mayor of Mantua every five years. The current Mayor of Mantua is Mattia Palazzi (PD), elected on 15 June 2015.
International relations
Twin towns — sister cities
- Charleville-Mézières, France, since 1959
- Nevers, France, since 1959
- Pushkin, Russia, since 1993
- Weingarten, Germany, since 1998
- Madison, U.S., since 2001
- Ōmihachiman, Japan, since 2005
- Oradea, Romania, since 2005
People
- Andrea Andreani (1540–1623), engraver on wood. He used chiaroscuro.[16]
- Marcus Antonius Antimachus (c. 1473 – 1552), pioneer of Renaissance Greek language teaching
- Giovanni Battista Bertani (1516–1576), architect
- Giacomo Benefatti (1304–1332), Roman Catholic Bishop
- Constanzo Beschi (1680–1742), a well known Tamil poet. He is known as Vīramāmunivar in Tamil.
- Saverio Bettinelli (1718–1808), Jesuit writer, polymath, dramatist, polemicist, poet, and literary critic[17]
- Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529), count of Casatico, courtier, diplomat, soldier and author[18]
- Gino Fano (1871–1952), mathematician
- Matteo Cressoni (born 1984), racing driver
- Federigo Giambelli (16th & 17th C.), military and civil engineer. He worked in Spain.[19]
- St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568–1591), aristocrat and Jesuit
- Pietro Giovanni Guarneri (1655–1720), violin maker of the Guarneri family. He left Cremona in 1679, eventually establishing himself in Mantua.[20]
- Learco Guerra (1902–1963), professional road racing cyclist. In 1931 he won the world cycling championship.
- Alfredo Guzzoni (1877–1965), Italian Army General in World War II
- Alberto Jori (born 1965), neo-aristotelian philosopher
- Lovers of Valdaro, a pair of human skeletons dated approx 6,000 years old
- Claudio Monteverdi (c. 1567 – 1643), composer and violist to the duke of Mantua[21]
- Tazio Nuvolari (1892–1953), motorcycle and racecar driver
- Ippolito Nievo (1831–1861), writer, journalist and patriot
- Elisabetta Picenardi (1428–1468), Italian Roman Catholic, Servite Order professed member
- Dave Rodgers (born 1963), musician and singer
- Jean-Louis Preti (Jean-Louis Preti), musician and chess writer
- Pietro Pomponazzi (1462–1525), Italian philosopher. He is sometimes known by his Latin name, Petrus Pomponatius.[22]
- Samuel Romanelli (1757–1814), Jewish intellectual and travel writer who published the first modern ethnography of Moroccan Jewry
- Salamone Rossi (c. 1570 – 1630), Jewish violinist and composer who served as concertmaster of the Mantua court from 1587 until 1628
- Giuseppe Sarto (1835–1914), appointed Bishop in 1884, before he became Pope Pius X in 1903
- Stefano Scarampella (1843–1925), violin maker. He left Brescia and moved to Mantua in 1886.
- Ada Sacchi Simonetta (1874–1944), librarian and women's rights activist
- Leone de' Sommi (c. 1525 – c. 1590), theater director and writer
- Sordello or Sordel, a 13th-century Lombard troubadour, born in the municipality of Goito in the province of Mantua[23]
- Franca Sozzani (1950–2016), editor-in-chief at Vogue Italia
- Virgil (70 BCE – 19 BCE), a classical Roman poet, born near Mantua[24]
In fiction
- In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is punished for killing Tybalt: he is exiled from Verona to Mantua. The plan was for both Romeo and Juliet to escape Verona after Juliet woke up from her fake death, but that never happened, because Romeo died, and she stabbed herself to death.
- In William Shakespeare's play Lucentio's father, Vincentio, is from Mantua. Hortensio is presented as "Licio, born in Mantua". Another character simply named "Pedant" states that he is from Mantua.[25]
- 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. A medieval building with portico and 15th-century loggia in Mantua is said to be "Rigoletto's house". It was actually the house of the cathedral regulars. It was chosen by the Gonzaga family as the residence of the legendary fool who was then used by Verdi in his opera.
See also
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Mantova
- Rocca di Manerba del Garda (Lombardy)
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Mantua | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
- ^ "Ecosistema Urbano ⋆ Legambiente". 29 October 2018.
- ISBN 0-670-03803-2
- ISBN 978-1-291-78388-9
- ^ Conte, Gian Biagio. Trans. Joseph B. Solodow Latin Literature: A History Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
- ^ Henry S. Lucas, The Renaissance and the Reformation (Harper & Bros. Publishers: New York, 1960) pp. 42–43.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
- ^ a b Brunton, John (29 March 2013). "Mantua: Italy's sleeping beauty city." The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Corriere.it". www.corriere.it.
- ^ "Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet discovered : thewest.com.au". 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
- ^ "Gemellaggi". comune.mantova.gov.it (in Italian). Mantova. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 971. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 832. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 474. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 925. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 660; see line 5.
Another son of Andreas, Peter (Pietro Giovanni), commonly known as "Peter of Cremona" (b. 1655), moved from Cremona and settled at Mantua....
. - ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 778. .
- ^ Mitchell, John Malcolm (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). p. 58. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 431. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 111–116. .
- ^ "Taming of the Shrew: Entire Play".
Bibliography
External links
- Official website
- Mantova Tourism Archived 2019-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Palazzo Te (in Italian)
- Palazzo Ducale (in Italian)
- A Mantova To know and to see Mantua
- Tourist guide in Mantua A native guide from Mantua
- Mantovani Nel Mondo Page dedicated to Mantovani worldwide.
- Photo gallery made by a UNESCO photographer
- Mantua on The Campanile Project