Santa Maria della Vittoria

Via Claudio Monteverdi 1, Mantova 

Santa Maria della Vittoria was founded in 1496 as a votive church at the behest of Marquis Francesco II Gonzaga, in celebration of the victory at the Battle of Fornovo against Charles VIII of France. The building, with a single nave in late Gothic style, once housed the famous Pala della Vittoria by Andrea Mantegna, which was looted during the Napoleonic occupation in 1797 and is now kept at the Louvre.

In 1877, the deconsecrated church was divided into two floors and used as a military warehouse, later becoming a sculpture workshop and eventually a facility for metal chrome and zinc plating. In 2001, the association Amici di Palazzo Te e dei Musei Mantovani began its restoration, returning the building to the city as a museum space and a venue for concerts, conferences, and temporary exhibitions.