Ducal Palace of Mantua

The Palazzo Ducale is not a single building but a complex of courtyards, gardens and wings that grew up between the 13th and 18th centuries. According to italia.it it has more than 500 rooms covering around 35,000 m². The Castello di San Giorgio was begun towards the end of the 14th century, and the Camera degli Sposi lies in one of its corner towers. Between 1465 and 1474 Andrea Mantegna decorated this room, roughly 8 by 8 m, for Ludovico III Gonzaga with scenes of court life and a painted oculus open to the sky in the ceiling.

Allow several hours for the palace; the Camera degli Sposi is only a small part of it. The oldest core includes the Corte Vecchia, which opens onto Piazza Sordello, and inside the National Archaeological Museum displays finds from the Neolithic through the Etruscans and Romans to the Lombards. Find out beforehand how access to the Camera degli Sposi is arranged.

Highlights beyond the Camera degli Sposi include, according to Frommer’s, the Sala del Pisanello with frescoes of Arthurian legends, the Sale degli Arazzi with copies of Raphael’s Vatican tapestries, the Galleria degli Specchi, the Galleria dei Mesi and the Appartamento dei Nani. Corridors, courtyards and staircases link the palace with Piazza Sordello, the cathedral and the Castello di San Giorgio.