Cerlongo Castle

The castle at Cerlongo, also called Villa Magnaguti, stands in the hamlet of Cerlongo near Goito in the Mantua countryside. It keeps its original layout from before the Gonzaga duchy, with medieval buildings and defensive walls that include three towers. The Gonzaga dukes often visited Cerlongo for its orchards, especially cherry trees. A plaque in one room records that King Vittorio Emanuele II stayed there on 25 June 1866. The estate belonged first to the noble Cocastelli family and later to the Magnaguti family, who moved from Polesine to Mantua in the 16th century. Visitors walk along the perimeter walls and see the three towers rising above the orchards. Inside, the medieval hall and the room with the royal plaque remain unchanged. The surrounding countryside still shows traces of the old cherry groves that once drew the Gonzaga dukes.