Mantua is a city of rare beauty as well as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sur-rounded on three sides by three artificial lakes once formed to protect the city (the Upper, Middle and Lower), Mantua enjoyed its heyday during the Renaissance, when Federico II Gonzaga, son of the Marquis Francesco II and his gentle bride Ferrara Isabella d'Este, was awarded the title of Duke of Mantua by Emperor Charles V. You will visit the historical center, the Castle of San Giorgio and will continue with the Palazzo Ducale where Gonzaga lived in the fourteenth century. Endless are the treasures in this charming palace. The historic center, the ducal palace, the cathedral, the National Academy of Virgil, "Te" Palace, Rigoletto's (Verdi opera) house  are monuments of great interest.