SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE

This Lombard Gothic church, which stands a few kilometres from Mantua in a picturesque position on the banks of the Mincio, will surprise many for the originality of its collections. It has been an important place of Marian devotion since the 15th century (founded in 1399) and has always been the object of great veneration among the inhabitants of the area. It is surrounded by a portico and has a wide esplanade in front of it. The series of painted lunettes that decorate the Renaissance loggia that precedes the church depict all sorts of miraculous interventions of the Virgin as well as the most important episodes in the history of Mantua. You will find some cannonballs, curious relics of the battle of Pavia (1525). The interior will not fail to surprise you: a series of curious ex-votos are placed all along the walls of the nave. These are life-size statues made of wood, plaster and papier-mâché, placed here between the 16th and 18th centuries in thanksgiving for answered prayers. The most curious thing is the stuffed crocodile suspended by chains at the beginning of the nave: this animal, which had strayed into the waters of the Mincio, terrorized the population in the 16th century. An intervention of the Virgin would have made it possible to capture and kill it, hence a taxidermy in thanks! Also note, in the first chapel on the right, the mausoleum of Baldassar Castiglione (1478-1529), author of the Book of the Courtesan, a manual for the perfect courtier.

A good idea: a pleasant cycle path along the river links Mantua to the sanctuary as far as Curtatone.