MANTUA, man'th-a, Italy, a fortified northern town, capital of the former duchy, and now of the province of Mantua, 80 miles by rail southeast of Milan, on an almost insular site on the Mincio, which here divides into several arms ending in a marshy and insalubrious lake. Com munication is maintained between the islands and mainland by several bridges, the chief of which is Ponte di San Giorgio, 800 yards long. Mantua is written Mantova by the Italians; it is the see of a bishop, the seat of a civil, crimi nal and mercantile court, and the residence both of a military governor and of a provincial dele gate. The most remarkable edifices are the cathedral, after an elegant design by Giulio Ro mano; the church of Saint' Andrea, conspicuous from a distance by its majestic cupola and Gothic tower; the church of Santa Barbara, con taining the mausoleum of Carlo Gonzaga; the church of San Sebastian; the Corte Reale, for merly the ducal palace of the Gonzagas, a huge irregular pile, now partly used as barracks; the Castello di Corte or old castle of the Gonzagas; the Torre della Gabbia, the Torre del Orologio, and the Torre dello Zuccaro; the Beccheria and Peschiera, or shambles and fish market, both built by Giulio Romano; the house of Giulio Romano, the Palazzo Colloredo, with enormous caryatides supporting its facade ; the Palazzo del Te, outside the walls of the town, also built by Giulio Romano, and adorned with some of that master's largest frescoes; the Accademia Virgiliana di Scienze e Belle Arti; the Liceo, the military arsenal, two theatres, one called the Teatro Virgiliano, employed for open-air performances in summer, .situated in a fine piazza also named after Virgil, and containing a marble pillar surmounted by a bronze bust of the poet; the library, containing 80,000 volumes; the civic and two foundling hospitals; the Monte di Pied, the principal house of correc tion for the whole of Lombardy. The manufac tures are increasing. The trade is chiefly in the hands of the Jews, who live in a separate quar ter. The principal article of trade is silk. There
are machine works, oil and flour mills, tanneries and breweries ; there is also a considerable trade in timber, which is floated down the Mincio. Mantua was an ancient Etruscan settlement, and in the time of Virgil, a native of the region, was a Roman town. Charlemagne built its first for tifications. Soon after 1115 Mantua succeeded in making itself independent, and continued so till 1276, when it fell under the iron rule of Buonacolsi or Bonacossi. In 1328 it found bet ter masters in the Gonzagas, who, first as cap tains, then (from 1432), as marquises, and finally (from 1530) as dukes of Mantua, gov erned it with great ability, and distinguished themselves by the splendor of their court and their patronage of literature and art. The last of the Gonzaga family who reigned in Mantua was Ferdinando Carlo, or Carlo IV, who, hav ing taken part with the French in the War of Succession, was declared to have incurred a for feiture by withdrawing his allegiance from his liege lord the emperor of Germany. The Man tuan territory was accordingly annexed to the Austrian possessions in Lombardy, and the re malting part of Montferrat was assigned to Savoy (1708). The fortifications of the town, previously formidable, were completed and put into their modern form by the Austrians and have been kept up to date by the Italian govern ment. In 1796 Napoleon, apparently hopeless of reducing it by any other means, contented him self with keeping it under strict blockade, till famine compelled the garrison to capitulate. After the cession of the western part of Lom bardy to Sardinia in 1859, Mantua, with what else of Lombardy remained to Austria, was united to. Venetia, and with it was given up to Italy in 1866. The area of the province is 903 square miles, and the population (1915 est.) 360,409. The communal population is 34,507.