Sabbioneta, foundation's town (urbs condita ), builded between 1556 and 1591, on Vespasiano Gonzaga's will, is situated in the middle of Po Valley. As independent little State, Sabbioneta, thanks to its advanced defensive structure would show mainly as a fortress.The two squares are situated in an asymmetrical and decentralized position and form the two most important city hearts around which the most representative buildings stand. Piazza d'Armi , called Castle's Square on the XVI century's second half, was the centre of the Lord's private life. In the past it was polygonal shaped with one open and tangent side towards Via Giulia and the remaining ones closed by three connected buildings. The ancient fortress rose in the west as well as the stronghold and the place where Vespasiano drew his residency, the Garden Palace and the Gallery. The Garden Palace ( Palazzo Giardino ) resumes the suburban villas features but it is anomalously included inside the town walls. It was the rest place, where the Lord loved to retire in order to have relief from political and military occupations, for reading, studying and taking part to the Court's entertaiments. A wonderful Italian garden, opened on the back and part of the building, was animated by fountains, water games and pergolas. From the villa, through a little overpass, we can reach The Gallery ( La Galleria ), a long corridor closing the eastern side of the square. The Galleria and the Villa gathered a classical period marbles collection and natural oddnesses, a clear desplay of Vespasiano Gonzaga's exquisite passion for ancient artistic culture. In the middle open side towards Via Giulia, in past times there was a column with the Roman Goddess Pallas-Athena (now in the middle of Piazza d'Armi). The place where the column rose marked the ideal city centre. On the other side, Piazza Ducale was the Lord's and citizen's public life centre and market place. The Ducal Palace ( Palazzo Ducale) stands in the West , it was the administrative and the political engagements centre and the official deputation Palace. The Palazzo della Ragione stood in the East, on the opposite square side, and held inside the General Vicar home (the highest authority after the Prince), in addition to prisons and several offices. The Santa Maria Assunta Church, the city Cathedral, raises in the North, among elegant buildings; in the neighbourhood is the San Rocco's little Oratory and S.Sebastiano of later period. In the South , at the same ground floor private buildings, is a long white marble rustic ashlar portico with two ogival quadrangolar pillars. Between the two squares, in a middle position, is the Ancient Theatre ( Il Teatro all' Antica ). Raised from 1588 to 1590 upon Vincenzo Scamozzi's project according to Serlio's "ancient rules", it is magistrally provided with technical spaces: the foyer, artists dressing-rooms with separeted entries and facades looking to public streets. The residential area surrounds the two squares and holds the city remaining buildings. This is the area which mostly took aesthetic transformations; the present-day look is the seven hundred century one.