Rotonda di San Lorenzo

Standing in the Piazza delle Erbe, the Rotonda di San Lorenzo is Mantua's oldest surviving church, built around 1082 by Countess Matilda of Tuscany in the Romanesque style. The round plan follows early Christian and Byzantine models, with a women's gallery running around the upper level — a feature that places it in the tradition of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The interior retains fragments of 11th and 12th-century frescoes on the upper walls, faded but legible: apostles, evangelists, and scenes from the New Testament in the flat, hieratic style of the period. The contrast with the Renaissance and Mannerist grandeur elsewhere in Mantua is striking — this is a glimpse of the city before the Gonzaga transformed it. Entry is free or by small donation; the sacristan will often let you climb to the women's gallery for a closer look at the frescoes.

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A story
The Rotonda was buried for centuries — literally built over and incorporated into the surrounding buildings until its existence was forgotten. In the 1870s, investigators noticed the upper drum of the rotunda poking above the roofline of adjacent houses. When they broke through, they found the interior intact, with fragmentary Byzantine-influenced frescoes still visible. It was excavated and restored, emerging as the oldest church in Mantua after more than 400 years of enclosure.