Mantova

Mantua (ital. Mantova) was a settlemt on the banks of River Mincio in Etruscan times. In Roman times veteran soldiers were placed here. About 70 BC the Roman poet Virgil (aka "Publius Vergilius Maro") was born nearby.

After the end of the Roman Empire Mantua was invaded in turn by Goths, Byzantines, Longobards, and Franks. In the 11th century, Mantua became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Tuscany.

During the 12th century the course of the River Mincio was altered, creating lakes, to reinforce the city's natural protection. Three of these lakes still remain today.

Under the House of Gonzaga, that ruled Mantua for more than three centuries (sometimes in a very despotic way), the city developed and became a center of Renaissance art. At the end of the long war of the Mantuan Succession the city was under Austrian rule.

Mantua was part of the Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy. In 1810 Tyrolean innkeeper Andreas Hofer, the leader of the Tyrolean Rebellion against the French, was shot here by personal command of Napoleon.
Since 1948 the popular song "Zu Mantua in Banden" ("At Mantua bound"), dealing with the death of Andreas Hofer, is the official anthem of the Austrian State of Tyrol.

Seen here Mantua is seen over one of the existing lakes -
and here is the anthem

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsIU2hq-QIw