Castiglione delle Stiviere

History

During the War of the Spanish Succession, the French under the duc de Vendôme occupied it.

In 1706, in the first Battle of Castiglione a French army under Jacques Eléonor Rouxel de Grancey defeated here a Hessian army led by Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.

During the siege of Mantua in 1796, the Austrians under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser were defeated here in the second Battle of Castiglione by the revolutionary French army under General Augereau, later Marshal of France, who in 1808 was created Duke of Castiglione by Emperor Napoleon I, a hereditary victory title (so there never was an actual territorial duchy attached to it) extinguished in 1915.

It is the birthplace of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (Italian: Luigi Gonzaga) who was a Jesuit. Aloysius was buried in the Church of the Annunciation in Rome. His head was later translated to the basilica bearing his name in Castiglione delle Stiviere.

Castiglione received the honorary title of city by presidential decree on 18 October 2001.

Main sights

It has an old castle, much altered and restored, especially by the Gonzaga family of Mantua in the 16th century.

Castiglione is the birthplace of the International Red Cross, which was established by Henri Dunant during the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in 1859. There is a museum in the center of the town dedicated to the IRC.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Castiglione delle Stiviere is twinned with: