May 2021

I have visited Mantova various times. The last time I was there on a organiized trip. We were taken on a boat journey and a guided tour of the town.

The main sight in this town is a large palace; the Palazzo Ducale. There are also two palaces opened to visitors; Palazzo Tè and Palazzo dei Conti d' Arco.

Mantova is located in the Lombardy region. In northern Italy.

Piazza Sordello; one of the main squares in Mantova was named after Sordello da Goito who was a poet living in Mantova in the XIII century. It is the largest square in Mantova.

This square was built in 1330 after several old houses were demolished.

Here you can see the cathedral (duomo); the bishop' s palace; the ducal palace, Palazzo Acerbi, Palazzo Castiglioni (or Bonacolsi).

The ducal palace is a very large construction built from the XIII to the XVI centuries. It houses more than 500 rooms; some gardens, courtyards, squares and a church.

Piazza delle Erbe is another square surrounded by ancient buildings.

Piazza delle Erbe (herbs' square) is bordered by Palazzo del Podestà; built in the XII century and restored in the 1400. Near this palace you see the Palazzo della Ragione. This was built in the 1300. Beside this you won't miss a tall tower; it is Torre dell' Orologio. It was built in 1473. Another palace on this square is Casa del Mercante it dates around 1455. There is even a church on this square; the church of San Lorenzo. It is a round church. It was built in 1082.

Mantova has three artificial lakes created in 1190. There are lago Inferiore, lago di Mezzo and lago Superiore. The town had another lake that was dried in the 1700; lake Paiolo.

You can do several boat trips on these lakes.

I took a 1. 30 hours boat trip and I liked it much. There are also much longer trips than this.

In july - august you can see lots of lotus flowers on lago Maggiore. I could only see its leaves because I was on the lake in september. Several kinds of birds spend their winters around and on some islets on this lakes. There is also a good number of swans that are local residents of the lake area.

On my boat there was a very interesting commentary by an old man, about what we were seeing during our journey.

The boat had a cafe where you could by some presents; even the typical Mantovan cake sbrisolona was on sale and it was very cheap.

Sbrisolona is a typical cake sold at various shops in Mantova.

It seems its original recipe originates in the countryside near Mantova between the 1500 and 1600. Perhaps it was prepared for special occasions. One of the ingredients of brisolona was lard,

Sbrisolona is made with cornmeal, white flour, butter and hazelnuts. It has to be broken into pieces to eat it; you can' t cut it because it is very crunchy.

It is a budget present to take home.