From the Gonzaga family: the theatre and the Fontana Forest

In the Middle Ages, Marmirolo was the territory of the Canossa family and, by imperial decree, of Mantua from 1055. It then passed into the possession of the Gonzaga family, who had lands and palazzi here. Evidence of the glories of the time can be found in the Bosco Fontana palazzina, a building which was commissioned as a hunting lodge towards the end of the 1600s by Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The Bosco Fontana, now a State Nature Reserve, is one of the last strips of the lowland forest which once covered the entire Po valley. In the town square you can see the fifteenth-century tower which used to be part of the ancient castle’s walls. By contrast, the chiesa di Santi Filippo and Giacomo is from 1748 and is the work of the architect Soratini. This church houses valuable paintings by the Veronese artist Frà Semplice. The northernmost tip of the municipality is Pozzolo sul Mincio, which is included within the area of the Park. It’s a picturesque hamlet whose history was bound up with water as it lies between the Mincio river and the Scaricatore canal.

www.comune.marmirolo.mn.it