Fort of Sparafucile

The main setting of the third act and the dark and mysterious place where Rigoletto's curse and the last dramatic events of the opera take place - culminating in the death of his daughter Gilda, Sparafucile's inn can be traced back to the present-day fort.

A place that is represented in a completely realistic manner by both librettist Piave and set designer Bertoja, who wanted it in an isolated position, away from the public street, as it is today.

Originally known as the "fort of San Giorgio" and only referred to as "Sparafucile" from the end of the 19th century, the fort is all that remains of a complex of fortifications in the village of San Giorgio designed to strengthen the defences of the Gonzaga state in the 14th century.

Abandoned for a long time, in the 1970s the complex was transformed into a youth hostel by the Province of Mantua. Partly restored in 2010, it is still not open to visitors inside.

(Act 3, scene 1) On the left, there is a two-storey house, half in ruins, whose front, facing the spectator, features a large archway that reveals the interior of a rustic inn on the ground floor, and a crude staircase leading to the granary...   
"Women are as fickle as feathers in the wind, simple in speech,
and simple in mind." (the Duke) [scene 2]