Mantua

Mantua (Ital. Man'tova), a fortified city of Northern Italy, formerly capital of the duchy of the same name, 38 miles by rail N. of Modena and 25 S. by W. of Verona, occupies two islands formed by the Mincio, and stands in the midst of a marshy district, which, combined with its artificial fortifications, makes it perhaps the strongest fortress in Italy. But at the same time its situation makes it liable to malaria. It forms one of the four fortresses of the Quadrilateral (q.v.). The streets are spacious, the squares numerous, and the population comparatively small, 28,048 in 1881; so that for this reason, and because of the numerous massive medieval buildings, the town has a lifeless and gloomy appearance. Chief amongst the buildings are the fortress of the Gonzagas, erected in 1393-1406, and adorned with paintings by Mantegna; close by is the ducal palace, begun in 1302, which contains 500 rooms, many of them ornamented with paintings and designs of Giulio Romano; the Palazzo Te, outside the city walls on the south, the greatest monument to the skill of Giulio Romano as architect, painter, and sculptor; the cathedral of San Pietro, restored from designs by G. Romano; and the church of San Andrea, one of the finest Renaissance churches in Italy, containing the tomb of Mantegna, whose pupils adorned the walls with frescoes. The public institutions include an academy of arts and sciences, a library with 80,000 vols. and 1000 MSS., a museum of antiquities, an observatory, archives, a botanical garden, a large military hospital, &c. Virgil was born at Pietole (anc. Andes), now a suburb of Mantua. The industries include weaving, tanning, and saltpetre-refining. Some 3000 Jews live in Mantua. Mantua, an Etruscan town, was successively in the possession of the Romans, Ostrogoths, and Lombards before falling into the hands of the emperors, who gave it to the Marquis of Canossa. From him it passed to the Countess Matilda of Tuscany in 1052. After her death it was a free imperial city and joined the Lombard leagues against the Hohenstaufen emperors. The Buonacolsis made themselves masters of the city in 1247, but were ousted from power by the head of the Gonzaga (q.v.) family in 1328. This dynasty, the head of which was created duke by Charles V. in 1530, not only maintained themselves against their great rivals, the Visconti of Milan, but raised the city to the height of its splendour and renown. The last duke died childless in 1708, and his duchy was confiscated by Austria, who kept her hold of it down to 1866, except for two short periods (1797-99 and 1801-14), when it was in the possession of France. Mantua has endured at least three great sieges, by the Emperor Ferdinand II. in 1630, by the French in 1797, and by the Austrians in 1799. During the years 1830-59 it was the headquarters of much political persecution by the Austrian government. See Arco's History, in Italian (7 vols. 1871-74). The province has an area of 911 sq. m., and a pop. (1889) of 321,872.