Cavriana

The origins of Cavriana date back to the Neolithic, 5th millennium BC. In the archaeological site of Bande, recently proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, numerous testimonies of a pile-dwelling civilization have emerged. The Gallic populations were replaced by the Romans, whose presence is demonstrated by the discovery of tombs and buildings with mosaic floors. The suggestive Parish Church, built in the 11th century among the hills, dates back to the Romanesque era. Inside the fortified village dominated by the tower, the Gonzaga court of the Marquises of Mantua stayed in the Renaissance period, spending the summer periods in the comforts of a noble residence built by the workers led, among others, by Giovanni da Padova, Luca Fancelli, Samuele da Tradate and probable collaborators of Andrea Mantegna. Of the castle, destroyed by the Austrians in the mid-eighteenth century, only the Medieval Tower and the walls that formed the defensive system survive. During the Battle of Solferino and San Martino in 1859, Emperor Franz Joseph stayed in Villa Mirra Siliprandi on the eve of the battle and the victorious Emperor Napoleon III the following night. Also worth admiring is the triptych by Zenone Veronese (1512) preserved in the sacristy of the parish church of Santa Maria Nuova. A visit to the Archaeological Museum of Alto Mantovano provides rich documentation of the origins of the territory. Registered in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites among the Alpine pile-dwelling sites, the locality of Bande, near the capital, is known for the presence of an important settlement of pile-dwellings from the Bronze Age, which has yielded nine tablets enigmatic preserved in the Archaeological Museum.