Palazzo Te is a splendid Renaissance villa located in the southern area of the city of Mantua, in Lombardy. Built between 1524 and 1534 on commission from the Marquis of Mantua Federico II Gonzaga, it is the most famous work of the Italian architect and painter Giulio Romano. Intended for the leisure of the beloved Isabella Boschetti, for institutional commitments and for representational occasions, it was built where the stables of Federico Gonzaga's father, Francesco II, were previously located.
What is the origin of its name ?
It was built on a small island called Tejeto since the Middle Ages, perhaps from the Latin tilietum, place of lime trees, and then abbreviated to TE, which no longer exists today.
Isabella Boschetti, the beloved of the Marquis of Mantua Federico II Gonzaga was a tea enthusiast, (tè in Italian) which she loved to sip every day at the Palace, with refined ceremonies and invitations reserved for local nobles
Over the years, it has become the diminutive of TEGO, from the Latin to hide, to conceal, as in a hidden wing, the Palace hides a beautiful secret garden, a place of romantic encounters between the Marquis and his beloved