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Fire claimed the Gothic cathedral. The façade is late Baroque (1756), and the interior was designed by Giulio Romano in imitation of Paleochristian basilicas.

Highlights in the Gonzagas’ rambling fortress-palace include tapestries by Raphael and Mantegna’s Camera degli Sposi frescoes (1465–74).

Just north of Piazza delle Erbe is this tiny square hemmed in by medieval buildings, including the 1227 broletto (town hall) and the Palazzo Bonacolsi.

Piazza delle Erbe is a wonderfully jumbled, lively urban space, lined by arcades, filled with a food market each morning, and ringed by a fascinating assemblage of buildings.

Lodovico Gonzaga commissioned this glorious basilica in 1470 from Leon Battista Alberti, its façade a highly original take on Classicism. Mantegna is buried in the first chapel on the left.

This rotund church is a relic from an earlier age, built in 1082 and retaining scraps of medieval fresco in its otherwise pleasantly bare brick interior.

This jewel-box of a late Baroque theatre is named after the architect who designed it, and was inaugurated in 1770 with a concert by Mozart, then a 13-year-old prodigy.

A Neo-Classically remodelled palazzo from the Renaissance, this includes the 1520 Sala del Zodiaco, frescoed with astrological signs, in an original 15th-century wing.

Mantova’s most famous artist, Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506), custom-built this house-and-studio in 1466–74. It includes a circular courtyard and a portrait of himself by his fellow-artist and friend Titian.

Giulio Romano’s Mannerist masterpiece is an ingenious interplay of spacious courts, sweeping building wings and discreet gardens. Built in 1525, it was frescoed largely by Romano.