France/Italy roadtrip – Mantova part 1 | alison richards

Mantova in Italian or Mantua in English is a city in the Lombardy region of Italy. If you remember your Shakespeare, it is also the city where Romeo flees to after killing Tybalt. It is a beautiful Renaissance city with so many beautiful buildings and two amazing palaces that I visited, the Ducale Palace and the Te Palace. I shall have to split this post in half, however, as I took so many photos of this beautiful city!

But first, I used the information that the lady at the campsite gave me to park in the carpark across the lake, as it was easy and cheap to park in. It was actually park and ride, but the walk was only a short distance so I walked it instead - the line for the bus was too long!

The first thing I saw on entering the city was the huge Ducale Palace, which was built in bricks with a moat and everything! I wandered past and had a look around the courtyard that was next to it (named Corte Vecchia) - as a first sight of Mantova, it was all very impressive!

I went back to the Ducale Palace which, despite it's name, is actually a collection of buildings rather than one big one. It opened at 8:15am which was great for me as I was there early! I think I was the first person to get a ticket and go inside, and I am so glad I did because the palace was BEAUTIFUL! However, not all of it was open at 8:15, as the Old Court was open later, I think about 2pm. So I covered off part of the palace now, only to return later to see the rest of it.

The Ducale Palace was a collection of buildings, not just one big building

The first courtyard as you walk in, surrounded by palace buildings

Ceiling details from the Camera degli Sposi

Inside the Camera degli Sposi, the room entirely frescoed by Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna between 1465 and 1475. It was absolutely gorgeous

Every wall had some form of decoration and the patterns were amazing

There was a Hubert Sattler exhibition on in the Palace. I’d never heard of him but his works were lovely. I snapped a photo of this painting because it looked familiar. It was indeed London, as the title was “Universal Exhibition in London: building for the industry, 1862”. The exhibition hall was built on the site of what is now the Natural History Museum in London.

So many beautiful rooms. I was the only one allowed in here, after being friendly to the attendant in the room who let me in to snap a picture. It pays to be kind!

I left the Ducale Palace, to return later when the other section was opened to the public. There was a church next door to the Palace that I decided to have a look at. This was the Cattedrale di San Pietro, and it was rather lovely inside.

The bible was so beautifully illustrated!

I left the church and went to explore more of Mantua, as I'd so far spent most of my time near the Palace. It was market day and I was wandering around the stalls - it was actually as though people had brought shops to the city, there was everything you could possibly want! While wandering around, I spotted these signs for all the beautiful sights in Mantova, including one for the local library. It's not usually something I visit but I stopped by and asked the librarian if I could actually take a look inside. I think she was very surprised - although it is on signs out the front, I don't think she got many tourists coming to take a look. There were two old rooms in there, full of interesting exhibits, old books and featuring two massive chandeliers, so I'm glad I went!

I think I'll have to leave it there otherwise I'll end up with about 70 photos in this post. So I'll do a part 2 with the rest of my time in Mantua next!