Former Jesuit complex

The former Jesuit boarding school and convent complex is testimony to a crucial turning point in the history of local education. The Jesuits opened their boarding school in 1584 and Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga, in 1625, made it the Pacifico Ginnasio Mantovano, a university structure with three faculties: Philosophy & Theology, Law and Medicine.

Hapsburg rule (1707) did not affect the efficient Jesuit organisation. An entire street-block incorporating constructions defined by Alfonso Torreggiani in 1763 - and now housing the Virgilio grammar school and Teresiana library - are a reminder of that period of splendour.

The complex also comprised the 13C Torre dei Gambulini and the church of the Santissima Trinità, which once contained Rubens’ altarpiece of The Trinity, worshipped by the Gonzaga family.