San Martino dall’Argine - town centre

The magnificent piazza del Castello, surrounded by arcades, confirms the image of San Martino as a village deriving from a court of the Gonzaga family. On the Square we find the sixteenth century Castle Church, now used for cultural exhibitions and conferences, with its amazing interior with forms obviously of Albertine origin and rich stucco and fresco decorations. On the opposite side of the village, Piazza Matteotti,  called “Il Vegro”, with an enormous lawn surrounded by trees and enclosed within a circle of old houses, has a completely different appearance, but is just as interesting as Piazza Castello.
The contribution of the powerful house can also be seen in the central church, dedicated to Saints Fabian and Sebastian (1489), housing the rich marble tombs of the Gonzaga’s. Also on the central Via Garibaldi, at number 45, a stone indicates the house where in 1791 Don Ferrante Aporti was born, founder of the first nursery schools in Italy.