Convent of Annunciation

The Convent of Annunciation is an ex-Augustinian convent located south of Medole, in the same place where once there was a small oratory dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.

Convent of Annunciation is linked to the history of the Gonzagas of Castiglione delle Stiviere, who begin to be independent of the relatives of Mantua with the hereditary division made by the Marquis Lodovico in 1478 that divided the duchy between the sons and these territories were ceded to Ridolfo. The foundation of the convent was in 1455, with a donation made to the Eremitani of Sant’Agostino of a small church with fields that soon took on importance until the visit of Emperor Charles V, who gave him the gift of a precious breviary; later the Augustinian fathers founded a much larger church that was called the Annunciation; of the building today you can see two walls and capitals. The convent was suppressed in 1783 by Joseph II of Hapsburg. A new oratory was erected in 1851. The paintings and the wall testimonies are well visible in the monastic complex, which today thanks to targeted restoration interventions are returning to new life.