The History

The first settlement in Sabbioneta – which dates back to the 1st century A.C. – sprouted up along the via Vitelliana, which connected the city with Brescello. Under the Lombards, an earldom was built and the fortified city center became the headquarters of a Castrum. The city was also under  the influence of the powerful Benedictine abbey of Leno, and during the Carolingian Age the city center was donated to the abbey. During the course of the 10th century, Sabbioneta built a curtis, a medieval community, which was dependent on the Bishop of Parma for a short period. Around 1000, control of the city was being fought over by the Persian counts, the Visconti and the Gonzaga families. Thanks to the intervention of Gian Francesco, leader during the Serenissima, the city was finally given to the Gonzagas in 1426.

Sabbioneta owes its fame to Vespasiano Gonzaga, who gave order to the city and made it into an important art and cultural center in the Po River valley.  Born in 1531 in Fondi, in the Lazio region by Luigi “Rodomonte” Gonzaga and Isabella Colonna, Vespasiano was the founder and designer of the current Sabbioneta. He completely rebuilt the city in the arch of about 35 years, from 1556 until his death in 1591.  He was a leader, a capable diplomate, but also a scholar, architect, military man and benefactor. As a simple cadet, he was able to climb to the top of the system of feudal lords and was able to make Sabbioneta an antonymous Duchy in 1577. He accomplished this thanks to the complete loyalty shown to him by the Habsburg Empire and, especially, the Spanish Royalty who named him a Grandee in Spain and then Viceroy of Navarra, then a Viceroy of Valencia. In 1585, he was made a Knight of the Order of Toson d’Oro, and was given his medals by his friend Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza during a solemn ceremony at the Parma Cathedral.

Vespasiano was given ownership of the city in 1565 and converted it into his principality in 1575 and finally into a dukedom two years later. In the following century, Sabbioneta fell into the hands of various wealthy landowners. In 1708, the city was incorporated into the dukedom of Guastalla and in 1746 it became part of Mantua. Between 1800 and 1814, the city was part of the Kingdom of Italy and then became part of the Napoleonic Empire. With the Restaurantion, Sbionetta was absorbed into the Lombard Veneto and after the second war of independence, in 1859, it became part of the State of Italy.

The City

Around 1556, Vespasiano Gonzaga began converting the old medieval town of Sabbioneta into a military fort. He designed the defense walls and the urban plan. The city was slowly demolished and completely reconstructed in the form of a small, but well-proportioned city, based on the parameters of humanistic architecture. The city has a star-shaped plan and is completely surrounded by the city walls. The main street unites the only two entryways into the city, and is intersected by a number of small, tranquil roads. There are two central piazzas and most of the main pubic buildings are located between the two. Artists from the Lombardian and Emilian schools or art were called to decorate these buildings. The artists selected were exponents of the late Renaissance esthetic of the Po Valley. The construction and beautification of the new city continued on until 1591, the year of Vespasiano’s death.

The vast Piazza d'Armi was once a part of the old Rocca, but has since been destroyed. At the north end of where the piazza used to be, you can now find the Ancient Art Gallery, built by the Duke between 1584 and 1586 in order to house his rich collection of Greek and Roman art. (The collection was moved to Mantua in 1774.) The interior of the art gallery is completely covered with frescos by Giovanni and Alessandro Alberti, from Arezzo, and their collaborators. The frescos contain examples of false perspective, allegorical figures, panoplies, festoons and coats of arms. A bridge connects the gallery to the Palazzo del Giardino, which gets its name from the surrounding Italian garden, or giardino, with small temples and fountains. The remodel of the Palazzo del Giardino began in 1578 and was finished within ten years. It was turned into a relaxation room where Vespasiano would go to read, study and escape from his government commitments. The sober exterior contrasts with the elaborate interior, filled with stucco-work, landscape paintings and frescos, carried out according to the precise iconographic plan based on Vespasiano’s knowledge of literature and the arts.

In the second piazza, the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption stands across from the Ducal Palace, built in 1568. In 1773, Ferdinando Galli Bibbiena added the Sacred Heart chapel to the church. The Palace, on the other hand, was representational home for Vespasiano and contains the Galleria degli Antenati. In the gallery, you will find twenty-one portraits of the Gonzaga family, done in stucco by Alberto Cavalli. The ceilings are richly decorated and there are four large wooden equestrian statues, one of which is Vespasiano himself) from 1587.

Behind the Palazzo Ducale, stands the church of the Blessed Crowned Virgin. The church has an octagonal floor plan and was built from 1586 to 1588 on the area of the former church of San Niccolò. The church contains the Vespasiano’s mausoleum, created in 1592 by Giovan Battista della Porta using rare, polychromatic marble. At the center of the funeral monument stands an extraordinary bronze statue made by Leone Leoni in 1588, originally commissioned by the Duke for the city’s public piazza. The church is supported by eight large pilasters. Between the pilasters, there are eight chapels that extend outward from the center of the church, which is covered by a cupola divided into eight sections, each decorated with eighteenth century frescos painted by local artists.

The architectural jewel of Sabbioneta remains the Teatro all’Antica, built beginning in 1588 and inaugurated with Carneval parties in February of 1590. The theater was built by Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548–1616), an architect from Vicenza. He designed the first example of a local theater in modern times, built specifically for this purpose and not based on preexisting structures. The elegant exterior of the building is divided into two orders; near the sting course there is an inscription that reads ROMA QVANTA FVIT IPSA RVINA DOCET, (or The ruins teach us just how grand Rome was). The interior of the theater, built with wood and stucco, has a staircase, which leads up to a loggia with statues of the Olympic gods and a theater box. 

A visit to Sabbioneta is a truly unique experience. The city takes its visitors back in time to see the life’s work for Vespasiano Gonzaga. In 2008, Sabbioneta was declared, together with Mantua, is historic city of UNESCO.