The towns of Mantua (Mantova in Italian) and Sabbioneta are paired into a single World Heritage site on the basis of representing two different facets of Renaissance city planning: the former an example of an existing city rebuilt and renewed, the latter a completely new town built according to the prevailing concepts of the ideal town of the time.

You can certainly see Renaissance influence in the architecture and un-medieval wideness of some of the streets around Mantua’s center. The most interesting architecture in town is concentrated around its historic core, focused on Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Sordello. The latter, wide and spacious, is home to the Mantua Cathedral, the Ducal Palace, and a host of other impressive buildings. The time I allocated for seeing the town allowed me to visit the cathedral (ok, but not surpassingly remarkable) and the palace, which offers a couple of dozen of increasingly impressive spaces, sparsely furnished but boasting magnificent ceilings and wall frescoes and decorations. There is a number of visually arresting mansions and churches on nearby streets and squares.

Sabbioneta has a small grid-like core of streets that forms the basis for its inclusion on the UNESCO list. I did not find anything exceptional there and left underwhelmed and disappointed. On a Saturday afternoon, not helped at all by the intermittent rain, the town looked nearly deserted and far from festive or even remarkable. I probably should have spent more time in Mantua instead. The key features of the main town square are the Ducal Palace and the Church (the sign on its side literally says just chiesa with no designation of a saint that it is dedicated to), which both might be lovely to look upon during the livelier times.

I would be hard-pressed to call this World Heritage site a destination in itself. As an intraday stopover on some route, Mantua is certainly a pleasant choice and can easily provide a few hours of exploration entertainment. Sabbioneta is unlikely to appeal to anyone but the most hard-core experts on Renaissance architecture.