Rotonda di San Lorenzo

The church was built in 1083 by will of Matilde di Canossa, to evoke the Anastasis (Resurrection) of Jerusalem, the structure built around the Holy Sepulchre, and therefore ideally connected to the relic of the Blood of Christ found centuries earlier in Mantua.
The temple was closed in 1579 by order of Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga.
Deconsecrated, the Rotonda decayed rapidly.
It was first used as a storeroom and then, once the roof was removed, as a circular courtyard for private use in the densely populated quarter of the Jewish ghetto of Mantua.
In 1908 the building was expropriated.
After restoration work, it was reopened in 1911.
Exhibition SiteOutside