Castiglione delle Stiviere is a town and comune in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, Italy, 30 km NW of Mantua by road.
History
During the War of the Spanish Succession, the French under the duc de Vendôme occupied it.
During the siege of Mantua in 1796, the Austrians under Wurmser were defeated here in the 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.
Birthplace of St. Aloysius Gonzaga 
(Italian: Luigi Gonzaga, 9 March 1568–21 June 1591) 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.
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 birth place of the International Red Cross, which was established by Henri Dunant during the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in 1859. There is a mususem in the center of the town dedicated to the IRC.
External links
Sources
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at 01:43:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
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