Mantua (Province), Italy

Mantua (Province) Italy

The Province of Mantua is a province in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Mantua. It is bordered to the northeast by the Province of Verona, to the east by the Province of Rovigo, to the south by the provinces of Ferrara, Modena, Reggio Emilia and Parma, to the west by the Province of Cremona, and to the northwest by the Province of Brescia. Founded in the 10th century BC on the plain formed by the meanders of the Mincio River, Mantua became an Etruscan town and an important trading center for pottery and agricultural products. Despite its defensible position, it was unable to withstand Celtic invaders in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, who overwhelmed it, and the whole area was later conquered by the Romans. By the 5th century AD, the Western Roman Empire was collapsing. Mantua was overrun by a series of invaders, including the Visigoths, Vandals, and Ostrogoths. After 568, the Lombards seized control of the part of northern Italy that is now known as Lombardy, which included Mantua. The current administrative boundaries of the province have deep historical roots and largely correspond to the Duchy of Mantua, which was a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. The Napoleonic Department of the Mincio became the Province of Mantua at the birth of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia in 1815. Following the Battle of Solferino on June 24, 1859, Franco-Piedmontese troops conquered Lombardy up to the right bank of the Mincio, and the resulting Armistice of Villafranca of July 11, 1859, between France and Austria called for new provincial boundaries, splitting in two the part of the former Province of Mantua that was crossed by the new international border. The new provincial boundaries came into effect after laws enacted in 1868. The coat of arms of the province, containing the symbols of Mantua, Bozzolo, and Castiglione delle Stiviere, represents the union of these three areas and was adopted in place of the previous one.
Recommended airport
Bologna Airport (BLQ)
Nearby destinations
  • Verona a 35.26 km
  • Carpi a 41.98 km
  • Bardolino a 43.91 km