Palazzo Te Mantova - Tour with Guide Tiziana Portioli

4.9 (69 reviews) 1 h 30 min Free cancellation Private tour

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69 reviews

4.9

Palazzo Te
Hall of Cupid and Psyche — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

6. Palazzo Te - Sala dei Giganti — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

Artistic hub in Mantua, that deserves to be suitably explained is Palazzo Te, a suburban villa devoted to the pleasures of leisure. Architect Giulio Romano, as the heir of his great master Raphael, is called from Rome to build and decorate this Renaissance villa between 1525 and 1535, inspired by ancient Roman villas.

Palazzo Te is an exemplary model of the Mannerist style as about architecture and an outstanding example of 16th century Italian painting. The name of the building derives from that of the place where it was built: the “island of Tejeto”, abbreviated as “Te”, where mantuan Lords held the ducal stables for the breeding of famous Gonzaga thoroughbred trained for battlefields and tournaments.

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At a glance

Duration: 1 h 30 min
Confirmation: Confirmed within 48 hours
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–15
Guide: English, Italian, French
Operated by: Tiziana Portioli

What is included

Included

Included: Private tour
Included: Professional guides

Not included

Not included: Admission tickets : €.15 adults, €.11 over 65, €.7 students, family ticket €.40
Not included: Private transportation
Not included: Entrance fees: Palace Te Museum Admittance

Itinerary

The interior contrasts with the sober exterior for a cycle of frescoes very amazing, inspired by the mythological fables of Ovid and Apuleius, the result of ingenious imagination of Giulio Romano. Among the most evocative rooms in which to focus our attention on: the Hall of Sun, the Hall of Horses and the Hall of Cupid and Psyche to conclude with the most unexpected, the Hall of Giants, where the Titans who rebel against Zeus have to suffer its terrible anger. The impression is that of a giant cartoon full of bright colours! Palazzo Te was first the alcove of love devoted to the “Favorita of the Prince”, Isabella Boschetti, for a sensual love affair surrounded by green woods and refreshed by waters; later it also became a luxury palace of representation, consecrated to guests of rank as the Emperor Charles V of Habsburg crowning Frederick, as the First Duke of the Gonzaga dynasty in 1530.