| Alto Mantovano | |
 | |
| State | Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Lombardy |
| Capital | Castiglione delle Stiviere |
| Inhabitants | 110.700 (2011 estimate) |
Alto Mantovano is a sub-region belonging to the Lombardy.
To know
Geographical notes
Alto Mantovano is an area of Lombard Po Valley, located northwest of the city of Mantua. It borders the provinces of Brescia to the west and of Verona East.
Background
The history of the Alto Mantovano starts from the Neolithic period, with the oldest sure evidence of human presence in the area. In fact, if during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods these lands were sporadically frequented by some nomadic hunter, it is during the VI-V millennium BC. that a permanent presence is consolidated with some stable settlements of farmers and breeders. On these substrates then, during the III and II millennium BC, the metallurgical cultures of the Copper Age and the Bronze Age developed. In Roman times, the area of Altomantovana was probably divided between the agri di Brixia, Mantua is Verona.
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In 568-569 the Lombards, after the invasion of the Goths - who perhaps left their mark in the name of the town of Goito - entered Italy and quickly subdued most of the northern regions (Langobardia Maior); the duchies of Brescia and Verona, within which the Alto Mantovano was probably divided, were among the first Longobard duchies to be established, following the conquest. From the Late Middle Ages the Upper Mantua assumed even greater strategic importance, becoming the object of the struggles between the Scaligeri families of Verona - who had the castles of Monzambano, Castellaro Lagusello is Bridges over the Mincio -, of the Gonzaga of Mantua and of the Visconti of Milan is Brescia: between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries a strong instability in the area is attested, with various concessions aimed at obtaining loyalty and spontaneous or non-spontaneous dedications by individual communities to this or that power. The two superpowers Venice and Milan, with the Visconti who extended their control over the course of the fourteenth century above all to the western portion of the area, fought for a long time, during the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, the Brescia area and therefore the Alto Mantovano. It is therefore easy to understand how above all from the Middle Ages onwards the Alto Mantovano has always been a "border place", where many battles and skirmishes took place between the Papacy and the Empire during the struggle for investitures. In the seventeenth century, in the years 1628 - 1630, the Alto Mantovano was repeatedly crossed and upset by movements of troops during the war of succession for the Duchy of Mantua, with Venice intervening, trying to control the situation in the Upper Mantuan, siding with the French in defense of the rights of the Gonzaga-Nevers, against the imperials. The countries of the area suffered further devastation during the War of the Spanish Succession, in the years 1701-1708, with the French and imperial armies alternating several times in the passage and control over the area. The 19th century is a very complex period. First of all, from a military point of view, even after the fall of the Gonzaga and Venice states, other important and even more famous battles took place in the lands of Alto Mantovano, including the Battle of Castiglione (1796), in which Napoleon Bonaparte was the protagonist, and those, decisive for the fate of Risorgimento Italy, of Goito of 1848, and above all of Solferino is Saint martin of 1859. The idea of the Red Cross, the largest international humanitarian organization, was born in the lands of the Alto Mantovano as a result of this battle.
Spoken languages
In addition to the Italian language, the upper Mantuan dialect is widespread, which belongs to the group of Eastern Lombard dialects and differs from the Mantuan dialect of Mantua.
Territories and tourist destinations
Alto Mantovano: full screen map.Urban centers
From the official classification of the Province of Mantua, Alto Mantovano groups the following municipalities:
- Acquanegra sul Chiese - The church of San Tommaso Apostolo, a Romanesque monastic building, has undergone important renovations over time, which however have not completely hidden the ancient structure. The majestic basilica interior retains many traces of important fresco cycles. The external walls retain interventions by opus spicatum.
- Buttonhole - The imposing cathedral of Sant'Andrea, the Town Hall and the Venetian Loggia distinguish its historic center with a Venetian flavor, a legacy of the 350 years of belonging to the Serenissima, to which the city gave itself in 1440.
- Canneto sull'Oglio - Known for the production of dolls as well as for the activity of large-leaved plant nurseries, the town retains a good urban layout with a Gonzaga style; a high passing tower leads into the historic center.
- Casalmoro - The sanctuary of the Madonna del Dosso and the Torre Mangeri are its reasons of interest.
- Casaloldo - It was a fief of the Casalodi, whose castle it still retains. It then belonged for a long time to the Serenissima together with Buttonhole.
- Casalromano - The sanctuary of Malongola, in its Fontanella Grazioli hamlet, dates back to the 13th century and preserves important frescoes.
- Castel Goffredo - The industrialized “city of the sock” of modern times has a past as a Gonzaga capital, which has endowed it with an important historical center; the squares, the arcades, the churches, the palaces permeate it with the unmistakable atmosphere that characterizes the urban planning of the Gonzagas.
- Castiglione delle Stiviere - City of the Red Cross and of San Luigi Gonzaga, protagonist in the wars of the Risorgimento, it was a Gonzaga center; retains a beautiful historic core that expands on the morainic hills south of Lake Garda. After the war it experienced a strong economic expansion, which favored an important demographic growth, making it the reference center of the Alto Mantovano area.
- Cavriana - His Pieve stands isolated on a hill and is one of the most important and best preserved Romanesque churches of the ancient Duchy of Mantua. With a single nave, entirely in terracotta and with a wooden truss roof, the temple was built in the 11th century.
- Ceresara - Its name recalls cherries; its civic tower recalls the ancient castle, of which it was the entrance door, destroyed by the Bonacolsi.
- Gazoldo degli Ippoliti - It was the capital of the imperial fiefdom granted to the Hippolytes and therefore was not part of the Gonsagheschi domains; the Ippoliti palace passes on the memory of the family.
- Goito - Its name is remembered for the battle that took place there during the first war of independence, remembered by Bridge of Glory. Preserves Gonzaga villas.
- Guide it - The Oratory of San Lorenzo martire stands in an isolated and suggestive place, surrounded by a grove. Presumably founded at the end of the fifteenth century, it preserves a cycle of frescoes by unknown authors and from different eras dedicated to the saints and the Madonna.
- Mariana Mantovana - The quadrangular bell tower and the gate tower are the remains of the Gonzaga castle, which welcome us upon arrival in Mariana providing a nice glance. In the nearby countryside, the Oratory of Campi Bonelli, in an isolated rural position, is one of the best preserved churches of the Mantuan Middle Ages.
- Medole - Important center known for the Convent of the Annunciata with medieval and Renaissance remains.
- Monzambano - Located on the morainic hills of Garda, was Veronese and then Venetian. Its 11th century castle and that of its hamlet Castellaro Lagusello of the XIII century recall the strategic importance of these border lands between Verona, Venice, Mantua.
- Bridges over the Mincio - At the foot of the Scaligero castle, the town remembers its belonging to the Veronese first and then to Venice. It was Napoleon who made it Lombard, in consideration of its strategic position.
- Redundant - The beautiful entrance tower of the fifteenth-century castle remains. In the nearby countryside, suggestive and in an isolated position on the banks of the Tartaro river, the hermitage of San Pietro has come from its distant origins located around the year 1000.
- Solferino - The famous battle of the Risorgimento of 24 June 1859, which saw the Austrians defeated, handed down the name of the town to history, like the nearby center of Saint martin. The Risorgimento Museum recalls the epic of those years, together with the Ossuary, which houses the bones of 7,000 fallen from that carnage. The town also preserves a fortress and a Gonzaga castle.
- Volta Mantovana - The castle, an ancient stronghold dating back to the 11th century, preserves the original urban plan, as well as some buildings and defensive works, including the two towers. Built around the 11th century, perhaps at the behest of Matilda di Canossa, it included an external wall and one placed inside, to defend the keep. The Gonzaga-Guerrieri palace recalls its long belonging to the Mantuan dukedom.
Other destinations
- South Oglio Park - Acquanegra is interested in the Oglio Sud Park (headquarters in Calvatone), protected regional area. The river areas of the territories of Acquanegra sul Chiese make up the Oglio Sud Park • Canneto sull'Oglio • Casalromano • Marcaria • Ostiano • I want to on the left bank; Cocoon • Calvatone • Commessage • Halyard • Gazzuolo • Dovarese Island • Pessina Cremonese • Piadena • San Martino dall'Argine • Viadana on the right bank.
- Le Bine Nature Reserve - The reserve is included in the South Oglio Park and is halfway between Mantua, Cremona, Parma is Brescia along the Oglio river and in particular between Calvatone and Acquanegra sul Chiese. It develops around a vast meander of the Oglio river still connected to it but also with spring water supplies. The most important part from a naturalistic point of view is the marsh area where numerous animal species proliferate including ducks, waders, herons, birds of prey, passerines, badgers. Entry to Le Bine is possible all year round and is free.
- San Martino Gusnago - Fraction of the municipality of Ceresara.
How to get
By plane
- 1 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (the Caravaggio), Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ 39 035 326323.
- 2 Brescia-Montichiari Airport (Gabriele D'Annunzio), Via Aeroporto, 34, Montichiari (BS), ☎ 39 030 9656599, fax: 39 030 9656514. Charter only
- 3 Verona-Villafranca Airport (Valerio Catullo), Boxes of Sommacampagna (VR), ☎ 39 045 8095666, fax: 39 045 8619074.
By car
Brenner motorway: exit Mantua north, then direction Brescia, Guide it, Medole
Serenissima motorway: exit Desenzano del Garda, then direction Castiglione delle Stiviere
Highway: exit Cremona, then direction Mantua, Buttonhole
Brenner motorway: exit 
Serenissima motorway: exit 
Highway: exit 
On the train
- 4 Mantua railway station, Don Leoni square. On the directives Verona-Modena.
- 5 Desenzano del Garda railway station, Einaudi square. Served by Frecciabianca for Milano Centrale, Torino Porta Susa, Trieste Centrale and Venezia Santa Lucia; from Frecciarossa to Brescia and Roma Termini and from regional to Milano Centrale and Verona Porta Nuova.
- 6 Asola railway station, Via Carducci. On the director Parma-Brescia.
By bus
- Bus lines APAM
How to get around
By car
- state road 236 Goitese, which starts from Mantua and passes through Goito and Castiglione delle Stiviere to Brescia;
- state road 343 Asolana that connects Parma to Castiglione delle Stiviere;
- state road 567 del Benaco which connects Desenzano del Garda to Castiglione delle Stiviere and the A4 motorway.
A certain importance for the economy of the area is also covered by some provincial roads:
- provincial road 8, which connects Casaloldo to Pozzolengo, and is also called Strada della Calza as it crosses the textile industrial district which has Castel Goffredo at its center;
- provincial road 1 Mantova-Asola, which in addition to connecting with the provincial capital also allows you to quickly reach the road to Cremona from Asola and Casalromano.
Above all historical importance is the so-called Via Postumia, so called because it follows the route of an important and strategic Roman communication route, which connected Genoa to Aquileia; it passed to the southern limits of the upper Mantua area, in an almost straight stretch, still existing, which crosses or skims the localities of Goito, Gazoldo, Redondesco and Mosio, and which connected Verona with Cremona.
By bike
- Mantua-Peschiera cycle route, an evocative route runs along the banks of the Mincio.
- Path of the Morainic hills of the Alto Mantovano.
- High moraine corridor.
- Low morainic corridor.
- From Castiglione to Cavriana: 13.5 km through the morainic hills.
- South Oglio Park.
- Left Oglio.
- Castel Goffredo cycle path.
What see
| Buttonhole | |
 | Cathedral of S. Andrea, Piazza XX Settembre. |
| Castel Goffredo | |
 | Gonzaga-Acerbi Palace and civic tower, Mazzini square. |
| Castiglione delle Stiviere | |
 | Basilica of S. Luigi, Piazza San Luigi. |
| Cavriana | |
 | Sanctuary of the Madonna della Pieve, Via della Pieve. |
| Medole | |
 | Convent of the Annunciata, Via Annunciata. |
| Redundant | |
 | Castle, Piazza Castello. |
Events and parties
TO Castel Goffredo
- Giuseppe Acerbi Literary Prize, Matteotti Square 7, ☎ 39 0376 780161, fax: 39 0376 777227, @[email protected]. .
- Books under the arcades, Piazza Mazzini, Via Italia, @[email protected].
Every Sunday of the month, except January and August. . - Feast of bitter tortello of Castel Goffredo, La Fontanella Park. Mid-June of each year. .
- Carnival with King Dumpling, Mazzini square, @[email protected]. At carnival every 4 years. .
- Living nativity scene, Piubega.
Every Sunday of the month, except January and August. .What to do
Shopping
- In the numerous hosiery factories in the area with a factory shop, it is possible to buy women's socks and tights, men's socks, women's underwear and swimwear at factory prices.
- Butter and cheese in dairies.
How to have fun
Where to eat
There Alto Mantovano cuisine is the result of the union between theMantuan culinary art and the traditions of the moraine hilly area, where cured meats, stuffed pasta, meats and desserts find the perfect complicity of the fragrant and crystalline wines of the moraine hills, so much so that agri-food is undoubtedly a strong point of the economy high-valance. Pumpkin tortelli, agnolini, always hand made with beef filling, tagliatelle with various ragùs, represent a series of first courses with a great impact on the taste due to their flavor, sometimes delicate, sometimes decisive. Pillar of the table, however, is the pig, of which nothing is thrown away; it supplies the meat for the production of highly characterized sausage products: high quality Mantuan salami, with or without garlic, salami, pancetta, cotechino and Mantuan raw ham are the spearheads of local pork processing.
Where stay
Safety
7 Fire fighters, Via Solferino 18, Castiglione delle Stiviere, ☎ 39 0376 672464.
8 Asola Carlo Poma Hospital, Piazza 80 ° Infantry 1, Asola, ☎ 39 0376 7211.- 9 San Pellegrino Hospital, Via Garibaldi, Castiglione delle Stiviere, ☎ 39 0376 6351.
How to keep in touch
Keep informed
- 10 Lands of the Alto Mantovano, Via Roma 9, ☎ 39 0376 781218, @[email protected].
- 11 The Gazzettino Nuovo, Via Marconi 2 - Castiglione delle Stiviere, ☎ 39 0376 631709, @[email protected]. Information weekly for the provinces of Mantua and Brescia - Chronicle of Castel Goffredo.
- 12 Montichiari news, Via Mazzoldi 8 - Montichiari, ☎ 39 030 964224, @[email protected]. Information weekly for the provinces of Mantua and Brescia - Chronicle of Castel Goffredo.
Around
- Mantua - Capital of the Gonzagas, it still exudes its subtle charm of a great city of art for which it appoints it a UNESCO World Heritage Site it was not so much an acknowledgment as a necessary acknowledgment. Its ancient atmospheres are incomparable, the profiles of the palaces and domes that stand out in the Po Valley mist enveloped by the mirror of its lakes, its endless Gonzaga palace that incorporates numerous buildings in the city center.
- Lake Garda - It is one of the great Lombard lakes; the eastern shore is Venetian, the tip to the north it is thirty. A destination for climatic tourism since the nineteenth century, every coastal town lives and develops with tourism. Main destinations are Sirmione, Desenzano del Garda, Salò, Riva del Garda, Garda, Peschiera del Garda.
- Desenzano del Garda - The most populous city of the whole lake (Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino) has received a great boost from tourism, focusing above all on young people who find numerous pubs, discos and sports centers there. Well developed is its tourist port, which receives the embrace of the historic center strongly characterized by the imprint given to it by the long dominion of the Republic of Venice.
- Sirmione - The Grottoes of Catullus - remains of an immense Roman villa in a panoramic position on the tip of its promontory -, the majestic and elegant Scaliger Castle which fortifies the town's marina and the thermal baths make it one of the most popular destinations around the lake.
- Le Bine Nature Reserve
- Castellaro Lagusello Nature Reserve
Itineraries
- Rural churches and oratories of Castel Goffredo - The itinerary, entirely in the green countryside rich in waterways, runs through the numerous places of worship, which boast ancient traditions and are the sign of a widespread religiosity, since the sixteenth century.
- In the lands of the Gonzagas - An itinerary through the centers, large and small, which were the capitals of the Gonzaga cadet branches: principalities, marquisates, duchies which, within the Mantuan state structure, enjoyed real independence, often minted coins and held refined courts that rivaled that of Mantua, embellished their urban centers by equipping them with elegant architecture - churches, squares, palaces, walls, towers - and characteristic urban views such as the typical Gonzaga arcades.
- Morainic hills of Lake Garda - On the first corrugations of the Po plain that becomes a hill, where the great lake basin of the Lake Garda, the route touches towns and cities that were the domain of Gonzaga, Venice, Scaligero, and then became the scene of the bloody battles of the Risorgimento that were the prelude to the unification of Italy. To the tourist, historical and naturalistic importance the area combines an oenological interest as an area of production of wines from the hills, tokai, merlot and claret.
- Places of the battle of Solferino and San Martino - The itinerary runs through the places where the historic one took place on 24 June 1859 battle of Solferino and San Martino.
- The Alto Mantovano is crossed by the Route of Mantuan Wines and Flavors, a food and wine tourism promotion path about 300 kilometers long and recognized by the Lombardy Region, which winds through the province of Mantua on a territory of 41 municipalities, including: Castiglione delle Stiviere , Buttonhole, Curtatone, Sabbioneta, Viadana, Mantua, Bagnolo San Vito, San Benedetto Po, Quistello, Gonzaga, San Giacomo delle Segnate, Poggio Rusco, Ostiglia, Goito, Volta Mantovana, Monzambano, Bridges over the Mincio is Cavriana.
- Way of faith and solidarity - The itinerary runs through the places where two saints lived, St. Luigi Gonzaga is Saint Angela Merici, and a blessed one, Paola Montaldi; where important pages of the Risorgimento and saw the birth of the Red Cross.
- Towers and castles of the Alto Mantovano
Related items
Other projects
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