Sabbioneta

Sabbioneta, a town of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Mantua, from which it is 20 m. S.W. by steam tramway, not far from the N. bank of the Po, 59 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 1835 (town); 7016 (commune). Its period of prosperity was under Vespasiano Gonzaga (d. 1591), who was its duke; by him it was transformed into a small "Residenzstadt." It was well fortified and built, and from this period date the ducal palace (now the Municipio), the theatre designed by Scomozzi, &c. The church and the summer palace contain frescoes by the Campi of Cremona. Here in 1567 a Hebrew printing-press was set up.