Palazzo Ducale di Sabbioneta

About the museum

The Palazzo Ducale of Sabbioneta is the oldest of the buildings commissioned by Vespasiano Gonzaga. It was built between 1560 and 1561, after a violent fire in November 1559 had devastated the earlier structure. It was the political and administrative seat of the duchy and has four levels: basement, ground floor, piano nobile and mezzanine, where Vespasiano died in 1591.

The façade, with a rusticated portico of five arches and a massive cornice on brackets, retains its original appearance only in part: the frescoes by Bernardino Campi and the cornice carved in oak have been lost. On the brackets there are now resin busts of the Gonzaga, while the originals are kept inside, in the Sala delle Aquile (Hall of the Eagles). In the last century a careless restoration led to the demolition of the imposing helical staircase commissioned by the duke.

On the ground floor visitors can see rooms such as the Sala degli Asburgo, the Gran Guardia, the Camerino dei Dardi, the Sala di Diana and the Sala d'oro (Golden Room), with wooden ceilings covered in gold leaf. On the upper floor are the Sala delle Aquile, with the wooden equestrian statues of the Cavalcata sculpted in 1587 to celebrate the Gonzaga, the Galleria degli Antenati and other rooms with traces of 16th-century decoration.

The palace is one of the monuments of Sabbioneta, which, together with Mantua, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Highlights

• Sala delle Aquile with the wooden equestrian statues of the Cavalcata (1587)
• Sala d'oro (Golden Room) and vestibule with wooden ceilings covered in pure gold leaf
• Sala di Diana with frescoes and late 16th-century grotesques
• Camerino dei Dardi with the emblem of Vespasiano Gonzaga's winged darts
• Façade with rusticated portico on Piazza Ducale

Permanent exhibition

• Palazzo Ducale: le sale di Vespasiano Gonzaga – A route through the rooms of the palace, from the ground floor with the Sala d'oro to the piano nobile with the Sala delle Aquile and the wooden equestrian statues of the Cavalcata.

Operated by

Fondazione Sabbioneta Heritage

Visitors per year

approx. 41,900

Admission & discounts

The single ticket of €10 for the Palazzo Ducale offers no reductions and is sold only at the Infopoint ticket office in Piazza d'Armi 1. Admission is free for holders of the Disability Card, licensed tourist guides, residents of Sabbioneta, teachers accompanying school groups and group leaders. Also valid with the Mantova e Sabbioneta Pass and the Abbonamento Musei Lombardia (after registration at the Infopoint).

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

By car: A1 exit Parma Est (30 km), A21 exit Cremona (47 km), A22 exit Mantova Nord (40 km).

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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Plan your visit