Mantua Cathedral

Mantua Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Mantua Cathedral, the Cathedral of San Pietro, stands on the Piazza Sordello in the historic centre of Mantua, Lombardy, beside the Ducal Palace of the Gonzaga family, and entry is free. Mantua and the nearby town of Sabbioneta are listed together by UNESCO for their Renaissance planning and architecture. The cathedral is often overshadowed by the Basilica of Sant'Andrea, a few minutes' walk away, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, but it is worth visiting for its interior by Giulio Romano.

Walking tours of Mantua combine the cathedral with the Ducal Palace and its Camera degli Sposi, painted by Andrea Mantegna, which requires booking, the Palazzo Te, the Rotonda di San Lorenzo and the lakes that surround the city. Mantua is about two hours from Milan by train and forty minutes from Verona. The cathedral is active, and visiting pauses during services. Trains from Verona to Mantua take about forty minutes, and the station is about fifteen minutes' walk from the centre.

Visiting Mantua Cathedral: what to see

A church stood on this site from early Christian times, and the cathedral was rebuilt several times, so it combines styles from different periods. The bell tower, on the right side, is Romanesque, from the twelfth century, while the side facing the lane preserves Gothic decoration from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. After a fire in 1545, Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga commissioned Giulio Romano, the painter and architect who designed the Palazzo Te, to rebuild the interior, and he created a solemn space with five naves divided by rows of Corinthian columns, inspired by the early Christian basilicas of Rome, with a coffered ceiling. The baroque facade of white marble was added in 1756.

Inside, the cathedral holds the tomb of Saint Anselm of Lucca, the patron saint of Mantua, the Chapel of the Incoronata, attributed to Luca Fancelli, and paintings by artists of the Gonzaga court. The coffered ceiling of the nave was designed by Giulio Romano and decorated in gold. The side chapels hold altars with paintings by artists of the sixteenth century. The Chapel of the Incoronata has a dome and a venerated image of the Virgin. The cathedral's crypt holds the relics of Saint Anselm. The Gothic side of the building, with pinnacles and terracotta decoration, faces a narrow street. The baptistery holds a font from the medieval church. The Piazza Sordello in front of the cathedral is one of the largest squares in northern Italy. The Palazzo Bonacolsi, with its tower, faces the cathedral across the square.

Mantua Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily, with a break at lunchtime. Mantua is pleasant in spring and autumn, while summer can be hot and humid because of the surrounding lakes, which also bring mosquitoes. The Festivaletteratura, a literature festival in early September, fills the city with authors and readers. The feast of Saint Anselm on 18 March is the city's patronal festival. Boat trips on the lakes run from spring to autumn. Allow about twenty minutes for the cathedral, and book the Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal Palace next door. The Rotonda di San Lorenzo, a small eleventh-century round church, stands near the Piazza delle Erbe, a few minutes away.