Last night our boat docked in Mantova - a world UNESCO heritage site - and this morning's biking (our last day) took us around the city and outlying areas. Mantova is surrounded by 3 man-made lakes and is known for its architecture, opera, and artistic importance throughout the centuries. It was ruled by the Gonzaga family for hundreds of years and was an extremely important place. Currently there are only about 50,000 residents. There is a huge cathedral, reminiscent of the ones in Florence or Rome, with a very large dome and many frescoes. This shows a small section.
We rode out to a place called Grazie which is the site of many pilgrimages. Oddly a stuffed crocodile hung from the ceiling.
Many of the buildings in Mantova were damaged in an earthquake in May 2012 and some buildings are still reinforced with temporary columns and scaffolding.
Tomorrow we try to figure out how to catch the train to Verona and find our accomodation. Wish us luck!
1 comment:
Thank you Lynn for sharing your travels!!
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