Posts Tagged With: mantova

Our Verona tour guide told us that Romeo rode his horse to Mantua but the city gates were closed due to plague. William Shakespeare wrote that Romeo receives a letter in Mantua from Juliet and is briefly happy before being wrongly told that his wife is dead. This disturbing news prompts Romeo to purchase poison from a Mantovan apothecary and race back to Verona to commit suicide.

While our Veronese guide seemed to believe that Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet was a documentary, we know that Willy was inspired by Ovid, da Porto, and Bandello. Matteo Bandello lived in Mantua in the 16th century, working as a soldier, monk, and short-story writer. The historic piazzas and Renaissance buildings built on top of Medieval buildings makes it interesting to walk around town pretending to be Romeo.

We toured Museo di Palazzo d’Arco with an Italian-speaking guide. The museum provided an english-language booklet that described each room and the artworks contained therein. We took some pictures in the garden before the tour began, but were transfixed by the indoor furnishings, paintings, and sculptures and forgot to take photos! This overwhelming assemblage, which dates back several centuries from the aristocratic d’Arco family, was donated to the city in 1973 and art history students are kept busy each year tracing the provenance of the undocumented paintings in this huge collection.

We really enjoyed our three nights in Mantova (Mantua) and could happily return for a longer visit. The municipality limits car/truck traffic (ZTL – Zona a Traffico Limitato) in the old city center which encourages pedestrians and cyclists to access local businesses, including an abundance of cafés and restaurants. The market on Thursdays stretches across several piazzas and side streets and offers just about anything you might be looking for. We purchased fabric (4+ metres for only €5), shorts (€2), sewing needles and thread for a button repair, and ingredients for our picnic lunch.

We are impressed with the clean streets, bicycle commuters, and friendliness of locals. Our Airbnb apartment was well-appointed; it included a washing machine with detergent, daily maid service, and coupons for breakfast at a local café.