The Castello di San Giorgio is part of the

Ducal palace of Mantua The Palazzo Ducale di Mantova ("Ducal Palace") is a group of buildings in Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, built between the 14th and the 17th century mainly by the noble family of Gonzaga as their royal residence in the capital of their Duchy. ...

. It is a moated rectangular

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, 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 image:Ritratto di Francesco I Gonzaga.jpg, Portrait of Francesco I Gonzaga Francesco I Gonzaga (1366 – 7 March 1407) was List of rulers of Mantua, ruler of Mantua from 1382 to 1407. He was also a condottiero. Diplomatic policies towards Mil ...

, to designs by

Bartolino da Novara Bartolino (Bertolino) Ploti da Novara (died 1406–1410) was an Italian military architect and engineer. He was in the service of the Este that in the city of Ferrara in 1376 presented him with a palace in which he lived also his descendant Dome ...

Ludovico III Gonzaga Ludovico III Gonzaga of Mantua, known as the Turk (), also spelled Lodovico (also Ludovico II; 5 June 1412 – 12 June 1478) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478. Biography Ludovico was the son of Gianfran ...

gave over his rooms in the "Corte Vecchia" to

pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...

for the

Council of Mantua The Council of Mantua of 1459, or Congress of Mantua, was a religious meeting convoked by Pope Pius II, who had been elected to the Papacy in the previous year and was engaged in planning war against the Ottoman Turks, who had taken Constantinople ...

in 1459 - that year, he commissioned

Luca Fancelli Luca Fancelli (c. 1430 – c. 1502) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Biography Fancelli was born in Settignano, a fraction of Florence. Much of his life and work is an enigma; what is known for sure is that he trained as a stonecutte ...

to rebuild the castle as a palazzo rather than as a defensible castle. He also commissioned the frescoes of the castle

Camera degli Sposi The Camera degli Sposi ("bridal chamber"), sometimes known as the Camera picta ("picture chamber"), is a room frescoed with illusionistic paintings by Andrea Mantegna in the Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy.. During the fifteenth century when the Cam ...

. In 1490 the castle became the site of the

studiolo of Isabella d'Este The Studiolo of Isabella d'Este was a special private study, first in castello di San Giorgio, Mantua, castello di San Giorgio, later the Studiolo was moved to the Corte Vecchi apartments in the Ducal Palace, Mantua, Ducal Palace in Mantua, designed ...

, remaining there until she moved it to the "Corte Vecchia" in 1519-1522. In 1496 the

condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

Paolo Vitelli The House of Vitelli, among other families so named, were a prominent noble family of Umbria, rulers of Città di Castello and lesser ''Rocca (architecture), rocche''. History In spite of ambitious genealogies, there is no demonstrable connec ...

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 Vecchia". Anker_San_Giorgio_in_Mantua_1891

In 1810 the

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

ean fighter

Andreas Hofer Andreas Hofer (22 November 1767 – 20 February 1810) was a County of Tyrol, Tyrolean innkeeper and Droving, drover who became the leader of the 1809 Tyrolean Rebellion during the War of the Fifth Coalition. He was subsequently captured and exe ...

was imprisoned in the castle before his execution by the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. Mantua became part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

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 The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

figures imprisoned there included Ciro Menotti and Teresa Arrivabene. The building's structure was damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake.

Rooms

*''Sala dei Soli'', ground floor, contains 15th century frescoes, redesigned by

Giulio Romano Giulio Pippi ( – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano and Jules Romain ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the ...

1531 Year 1531 ( MDXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 15 – The third session of the Reformation Parliament of King Henry VIII of England is opened. * January 26 &nda ...

and then by Giovan Battista Bertani *''Sala degli Stemmi'', accessed by a spiral staircase *''Salone degli Affreschi'', parallel to the ''Sala degli Stemmi'' *''Sala delle Sigle'', bridal suite of

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was the Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion ...

*''Saletta della Grotta'', part of Isabella's apartments *''Sala delle Armi'', with twelve heraldic devices by Giulio Romano *''Chapel'', built in 1563 by Bertani Giovanni Paccagnini, Il Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, Milano, 2002, page 60 *''Sala di Mezzo'' *''Sala del Fregio'' *''Sala delle Cappe'', with barrel vaulted ceiling *''Sala dello Zodiaco'', with the remains of paintings by Giulio Romano, the room used to house Pietro Frattini, one of the Belfiore martyrs, and

Ciro Menotti Ciro Menotti (22 January 1798 – 23 May 1831) was an Italian nationalist and liberal revolutionary who is known for his participation in the Revolution of 1830 in Italy, for which he was executed in 1831. Biography Menotti was born in Migl ...

*''

''. *''Scalone di Enea'', designed by Bertani in 1549, just after his appointment as "Prefect of the Ducal Buildings" by cardinal

Ercole Gonzaga Ercole Gonzaga (23 November 1505 – 2 March 1563) was an Italian Cardinal. Biography Born in Mantua, he was the son of the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este, and nephew of Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga. He studied philosophy at Bo ...

, directly connects the castle's courtyard and loggiato with the Salone di Manto in the Ducal Palace *''Courtyard and loggiato'', designed by Fancelli in 1472 to designs by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

Giovanni Paccagnini, Il Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, Milano, 2002, page 52

References

Bibliography

* Maria Rosa Palvarini, Carlo Perogalli, ''Castelli dei Gonzaga'', Milano, 1983. * Alberto Garlandini, ''I castelli della Lombardia'', Milano, 1991. * Touring Club Italiano (ed.), ''Lombardia. Guide d'Italia'', Milano, 1970. {{coord, 45.1609, 10.8000, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

category:Buildings and structures in Mantua category:Gonzaga residences