ABSTRACT
The research documents a building of great complexity, the former Salt and Tobacco State Monopoly Warehouse, abandoned for more than 30 years and, for its location, part of the historical center of Mantua recently added to the UNESCO sites. The uniqueness of the complex is not limited to the presence of the ancient fortification: in time the Casa del Sale and the Ferrante Gonzaga's Stable were built bonded to the roman town wall. The stratigraphic survey of the unplas-tered fronts of the defensive wall through the detailed analyses of the masonry textures recognized four general building phases, the first of which dating back to the late Roman Empire. The other phases can be attributed to the capture of the city by the Longobards, the long resistance to Matilda of Canossa and the last step, built by brickwork masonry with small pentagonal openings or niches, probably dating back to the consolidation of the power of the Bonacolsi.
