In 2010, in collaboration with the Province of Mantua's cycling office, a route connecting Mantua and Sabbioneta was developed. The cycle route, consisting of sections of cycle path and mixed-use sections with low traffic, offers a leisurely experience while enhancing the area's historical, cultural, and scenic attractions. The route, approximately 47 kilometers long (3 to 4 hours of cycling), is part of the larger existing cycle route that intersects the cities of Mantua and Sabbioneta (Euro Velo 7 and 8, Ciclovia del Sole, and Tirrenica). In 2016, the Mantova&Sabbioneta Biking project began improving directional and tourist signage, creating rest areas, and identifying further possible route variations.
PROJECT SHEET
Production times: 2011 -2019
GoalsThe project “The Mantua-Sabbioneta – UNESCO City Cycle Route” is part of the larger existing cycle route, Ciclovia Tirrenica Bicitalia16 (TiBre dolce, which passes through Verona, Mantua, Sabbioneta, Parma, Pontremoli, Marina di Massa, and Livorno). The project aims to identify and develop a 47-kilometer cycle route for both bicycles and cars (approximately 3 or 4 hours of cycling), thus improving accessibility between the two cities that make up the site and enhancing the historical, cultural, and landscape aspects that the route passes through.
ActionsThe first phase of work involved identifying routes to develop a safe cycling route that intersects with the area's landscape and cultural features. The cycle path winds along both dedicated bike paths and roads open to traffic but with low vehicle impact, allowing cyclists to discover and fully appreciate the area's main cultural highlights: from the Mantua lake system, it passes Palazzo Te, past parish churches (Buscoldo), pontoon bridges (Torre d'Oglio), river parks rich in environmental and naturalistic areas (Oglio Park and the Po River), porticoes and Gonzaga towers (Gazzuolo and Commessaggio), rural courtyards, and water pumping plants, all the way to the Sabbioneta embankment system and through the fortified walls through Porta Vittoria.
The cycle path system was overhauled in 2016 with the launch of the “Mantua & Sabbioneta Biking” which includes the creation of tourist and directional signs to make the experience of cycle tourists even safer and more distinctive.
The planned signage system partially implements the directional signs in the Highway Code (brown direction signs) regarding cycle routes, some of which are already present. Additional panels and other information signs are also planned, defining the route as a cycle-tourist route through the Mantua and Sabbioneta UNESCO World Heritage Site, containing territorial maps and other references to intersecting cycle routes, such as the EUROVELO and VENTO (Venice-Turin) routes.
Several additions have been made to support tourist signage: the inclusion of the Mantua and Sabbioneta site logo, a QR code, and, for signs located in the municipalities of Mantua and Sabbioneta, a beecom phigithal; the placement of two UNESCO site signs with a summary of the Declaration of Value; the highlighting of the two cities' starting and ending points with two bikegate totems; the location of two rest areas and related furnishings at Porta Giulia in Mantua and Torre d'Oglio; and the creation of a bike-sharing service at Porta Giulia, a hub for cycle paths departing and arriving from the city of Mantua.
ResourcesMIBACT (Law 77/2006) and the Municipalities of Mantua and Sabbioneta. In collaboration with the Province of Mantua.