| Casatico | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Lombardy | |
| Territory | Bassa del Po di Lombardia | |
| Altitude | 25 m a.s.l. | |
| Inhabitants | 900 (estimate) | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0376 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 46010 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | St. John Baptist | |
Position
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Casatico is a fraction of Marcaria, in Lombardy.
To know
It is the home of the famous scholar Baldassarre Castiglione, who was born here on December 6, 1478.
Background
Already in the 11th century Casatico was part of the domains of the Obertenghi house. The Marquis Adalberto Obertengo and his wife Adelaide in 1033 donated it together with the entire court of Marcaria of which it was an integral part of the newly erected Benedictine monastery of Castiglione di Parma, today Castione Marchesi. The monastic orders, Benedictine first, then Olivetans, held the property until the suppression of the monastery in the second half of the eighteenth century, previously investing the rulers of Mantua (Bonacolsi and Gonzaga), and starting from 1445 the Castiglioni family in the person of the count Baldassare Castiglioni, friend of the Marquis of Mantua Ludovico III Gonzaga and grandfather of his more famous homonymous nephew author of "Il Cortegiano".
Baldassarre Castiglione
Baldassarre Castiglione (Casatico, 6 December 1478 - Toledo, February 8, 1529) was an Italian humanist, man of letters, diplomat and military, in the service of the Papal States, of the Marquisate of Mantua and the Duchy of Urbino. His prose is considered one of the highest expressions of the Italian Renaissance. He stayed in many courts, including that of Francesco II Gonzaga in Mantua, that of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro in Urbino and that of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. At the time of the sack of Rome was apostolic nuncio to Madrid for Pope Clement VII. His most famous work is "Il Cortegiano", published in Venice in 1528, and set at the Urbino court, but written only after his stay in the latter. It deals with the discussion, in a dialogical form, of which are the attitudes most suited to a man of the court and a "lady of the palace", of which the author reports refined and balanced conversations that he imagines will be held during party evenings at the court of Montefeltro, around the Duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga. After the sack of Rome in 1527, he was unjustly accused by the pope of not having been able to foresee the event. Struck by feverish attacks, he died in Toledo on February 8, 1529. By testamentary disposition, his body was transferred to Mantua and buried, next to his wife, in the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, at the gates of the city, in the tomb set up by Giulio Romano.
How to orient yourself
Casatico (Marcaria): full screen map.How to get
By plane
- 1 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (Caravaggio), Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ 39 035 326323.
- 2 Verona Airport (Catullus), Boxes of Sommacampagna, ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected].
- 3 Parma airport (G. Verdi), Via Emilia - Golese locality, ☎ 39 0521 951511.
- 4 Milan-Linate airport (Enrico Forlanini).
By car
- A22 Modena-Brennero motorway: Mantova nord exit. Direction Cremona-Parma on the SS 10 for about 13 km. TO Marcaria follow the sign "Casatico - Corte Castiglioni".
How to get around
What see
- 1 Castiglioni Court, Via Nuova 1 (Private property), ☎ 39 041 2443322. It is a historic fortified Lombard court. Built in the fifteenth century by the noble leader Baldassarre Castiglione and remodeled in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, it consists of a series of courtyards that lead to the noble palace, flanked by a star tower which Giulio Romano seems to have put his hand to. Externally it is surrounded by a moat and an entrance with false Fancellian battlements bearing the coat of arms of the Castiglioni. The monumental complex is made up of two bodies: a minor fifteenth-century one, on which Luca Fancelli probably intervened in the seventies of the fifteenth century, and a larger and composite one on which in 1546 a restructuring was carried out on the initiative of Count Camillo, according to a drawing by Giulio Romano already preserved by the family. A further and important renovation was carried out in the mid-eighteenth century. In the court on December 6, 1478, the scholar Baldassarre Castiglione was born of Cristoforo Castiglione, "squadrario" (military title of command) of the Lords of Mantua (Gonzaga) and Alojsia Gonzaga, who took refuge there to escape the plague that broke out in the city. The birthplace of Baldassarre located in the lower wing of the building on the upper floor is recently discovered. In 1576 some followers of Giulio Romano painted in the palace (works still largely visible): Giulio Rubone in the ancient loggia and Giangiacomo da Mantova in the star-shaped tower built by Count Camillo in 1546.
- 2 Parish church. Dedicated to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was commissioned by the Castiglioni to replace the existing one. It dates back to 1730 and was designed by the architect Soratini di Lonato.
- 3 Oratory of the Madonna del Pilar. Located 3 km. da Casatico is a small church built by the Castiglioni nobles. Particularly the bell tower with a triangular base.
Events and parties
What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Average prices
- 1 Osteria Due Platani, Strada Redondesco 1 (Next to the entrance to Corte Castiglioni), ☎ 39 0376 1502902. Typical restaurant immersed in the countryside, in the shade of centuries-old trees. Salami specialties.
Where stay
Safety
How to keep in touch
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 a recognition 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.
- Sabbioneta - City of foundation, UNESCO World Heritage Site, maintains the walls within which the magic of ideal urban planning by Vespasiano Gonzaga has remained intact; the Teatro all'Antica, the Ducal Palace, the Gallery, the Incoronata church are some of its monuments that stand out in a context that has been admirably preserved.
- South Oglio Park. Regional protected area that extends from the Oglio Nord Park to the confluence with the Po. The Oglio Sud Park is made up of the fluvial areas of the territories of Acquanegra sul Chiese • 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. The area is affected by a cycle path of about 60 kilometers that winds through the interesting habitat of the countryside and the floodplains of the Oglio river.
- Le Bine Nature Reserve
Itineraries
- In the lands of the Gonzaga - 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.
- 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.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Casatico (Marcaria)
