I slowly went upstairs, walking around and wondering how truly skilled were those artists decorating rooms of Palazzo Ducale. Can you remember the last moment of immersing into different world and escaping from daily run of thoughts through your mind?
That was the moment for me.
There was nobody around. I heard my steps on beautifully decorated floors, bouncing from the walls of the empty rooms. It was about 1 pm, school excursions were back to schools, rest of Italy was having their daily siesta.
I took a look through the window and I saw... the garden... just outside the window...
wait a minute! I went upstairs. Remember? What the hell?
I took the plan of Palazzo Dukale.... where is first floor? here... okay.... and there is a garden... on the first floor! Surprise, surprise!
Yes, in Palazzo Ducale in Mantua (Mantova) there is a garden constructed on the first floor, at the height of 12 m from the ground.
Garden freak had an imagination in 16th century! What about us? Where is our imagination?
The photo above was taken through the window of the third floor, through the window. You see the view that surpised me in silence of my own mind and the beauty around.
Today Palazzo Dukale is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
A World Heritage Site means “a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex or city) that is of special cultural or physical significance (source: Wikipedia).
The Palazzo Ducale di Mantova ("Ducal Palace") is a group of buildings in Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, built between the 14th and the 17th century mainly by the noble family of Gonzaga. It includes about 500 rooms and occupies an area of c. 34,000 m2.
Under the ruling Gonzaga family, Mantua, a town dating back to the Roman period, was a renewal project which then made it one of the most significant cultural center in Northern Italy.
Due to the earthquakes in May 2012, some sections of Palazzo Ducale in Mantua are still closed off to the public, though I walked for 2 hours and I am sure I haven't seen everything.
If you are in Northern Italy, drop by. It's worth it.
Have you seen the balconies that enchanted me?
