Mantua

“A town on water, its a ideal projection of Venice on the Po valley”, “a town with the shape of a palace”: two definitions well describing the main artistic – architectural and historical development of this site, totally linked to the Gonzaga, the Dukes that made their own town an artistic jewel.

Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakgonzaga, dukeses created during the 12th century. These receive the waters from the Mincio, which descend from Lake Garda. The three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore ("Superior", "Middle," and "Inferior" Lakes). A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which once completed a defensive water ring of the city, dried up at the end of the 18th century.

Mantua figures in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet as the place to which Romeo is exiled for killing Tybalt. He later leaves Mantua and returns to Verona when he hears that Juliet has died.

See also: 

• Mantua and the Gonzaga domains UNESCO World Heritage Centre