Rocchetta di San Giorgio

Rocchetta di San Giorgio is what is left of the fortifications of the San Giorgio hamlet, located at the end of the bridge of the same name, to control access.
The current building - of which the tower with square floor plan is the oldest part - is the result of multiple and layered rehashes.
It was Ludovico I Gonzaga, the third Capitan of the people, who was responsible for fortifying the defensive function of the old settlement - in the second half of the Fourteenth century - as a "bridge end" with walls and a sentinel rock, in response to the worrying ambitions of the Visconti in terms of expansion.
It was probably Marquis Gianfrancesco Gonzaga who started, in the Fifteenth century, work to refurbish and reinforce the entire fort and the ramparts of the San Giorgio hamlet.
Further work on the Rock is documented around 1458-59 under Marquis Ludovico II Gonzaga.
In this context, one is likely to consider the role of Giovanni da Padova, a military architect and plumber, who provided consulting services to the lords of Mantua.
During the first French domination, protection of the site was generally reorganised, but at the beginning of the Nineteenth century the Napoleonic government decided to demolish everything except the Rock.
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