Castello di San Giorgio (Mantua)
castle, chateau
194m
Provincia di Mantova, Lombardia

The Castello di San Giorgio is part of the Ducal palace of Mantua

https://media.whitetown.sk/pictures/it/losangiorgiomantova/losangiorgiomantova.jpg
Previous names
Castello di San Giorgio (Mantua), Castello di San Giorgio (Mantova)
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Description

The Castello di San Giorgio is part of the Ducal palace of Mantua. It is a moated rectangular castle, each of which's four corners has a large tower and the moat is crossed by three drawbridges.

History

It was built between 1395 and 1406 on the ruins of the church of Santa Maria di Capo di Bove for Francesco I Gonzaga, to designs by Bartolino da Novara. Ludovico III Gonzaga gave over his rooms in the "Corte Vecchi" to pope Pius II for the Council of Mantua in 1459 - that year, he commissioned Luca Fancelli to rebuild the castle as a palazzo rather than as a defensible castle. He also commissioned the frescoes of the castle's Camera degli Sposi. In 1490 the castle became the site of the studiolo of Isabella d'Este, remaining there until she moved it to the "Corte Vecchi" in 1519-1522. In 1496 the condottiero Paolo Vitelli was captured by Francesco II and imprisoned in the castle. It remained the main Gonzaga residence for around a century until Guglielmo Gonzaga moved his apartments to the rebuilt "Corte Vecchi".

Painting of the Castello and the Palazzina della Paleologa in 1891.

In 1810 the Tyrolean fighter Andreas Hofer was imprisoned in the castle before his execution by the Kingdom of Italy. Mantua became part of the Austrian Empire in 1814 and from 1815 it was a maximum security prison for the Empire's political opponents, such as the Belfiore martyrs from 1852 onwards. Others pro-Risorgimento figures imprisoned there included Ciro Menotti and Teresa Arrivabene. The building's structure was damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake

Useful information

GRATUITO

13.00 EUR

8.50 EUR

20.00 EUR

- Collezione di affreschi

- Cappella del castello

- I pannelli introduttivi e il video

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