Mantua

Mantua's (Mantova) historic power made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera, and the city is known for its several architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces or palazzi, and its medieval and Renaissance cityscape. It is the town to which Romeo was banished in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It is also the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman writer Virgil.