Just a few
kilometres north of Sabbioneta, Vespasiano
Gonzaga’s perfect city in the Po Valley is the small village of Commessagio. It
is an agricultural centre just like many around Mantova(Mantua). But the entrance
to the village is via a boat bridge, a curiosity that makes it worth a visit.
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| Commessagio, Mantova. |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
The
countryside around here is criss-crossed with irrigation and drainage canals,
some of them quite large. This area like much of the Po Valley was marshland in
ancient times. Over the centuries farming land has been reclaimed. Commessagio
sits on a major irrigation canal that dates back to the fifteenth century at
least.
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
When you
arrive at the boat bridge, you see a huge brick fortified tower on the other
side. This was built by Vespasiano Gonzaga in 1583 to protect the canal crossing and more
importantly it was a sign of the power of this local ruler. The whole scene is
quite spectacular.
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
This
backdrop was used by the all-round Italian intellectual Pasolini for his grotesquely
unwatchable art film “Salo, 120 days of Sodom” an adaption of the work by the Marchese
de Sade transposed to the dying days of Italian Fascism. Pasolini was murdered
in murky circumstances soon after the completion of this film in 1975. The
place has hardly changed.
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
A nice surprise
was that the tower was open and one can climb up to the top for a nice view of
the surrounding countryside.
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
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| Commessagio, Mantova |
The Po
Valley around Mantova has a certain undescribed sleepy atmosphere, Commessagio
was no exception.
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| River Po,Viadana Mantova |
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