Bertazzolo basin and River Museum

The village of Governolo was built where the Mincio river flows into the Po. It was originally situated along the ancient Mincio course, before this was covered over in the 1980s. Where water once flowed, a large green area has been organised as a park; in its centre, the ancient "support" (floodgate) remains, which was for centuries the crucial structure of Mantua's hydraulic system. The floodgate had two openings, which could be closed by means of metal stoplogs put in place by a bridge crane (still in place and sheltered by a metal covering). Upstream and downstream of the gates there were slots, in which the stoplogs could be dropped to completely close the gate. A long divider still separates the "support" from the lock, which consists of a basin that was once closed by miter gates.