The Temple of San Sebastiano serves as a place of commemoration for those who died for their country, preserving the memory of soldiers and civilians who perished between the 19th and 20th centuries. The lower floor, whose original purpose is unclear, is dedicated to the Martyrs of Belfiore. The Temple was built in 1460 after a severe plague prompted Ludovico Gonzaga to commission a votive structure dedicated to Saint Sebastian. The project was entrusted to Leon Battista Alberti, already in Mantua for the Council convened by Pope Pius II. Alberti, a leading figure of Renaissance architecture, designed a central-plan building inspired by classical models, though the structure remained unfinished and underwent several modifications. The most significant changes took place in the 1920s, when the building, previously abandoned after use as a prison and barracks, was converted into a memorial for the fallen. Between 1852 and 1855, amid the repression following the Risorgimento uprisings, many Mantuan patriots were arrested and sentenced to death by the Austrians. Don Enrico Tazzoli, Carlo Poma, Angelo Scarsellini, Bernardo De Canal, and Giovanni Zambelli were hanged at Valletta Belfiore, on the city’s outskirts. The Temple houses the gallows used for these executions and the casket containing the martyrs’ relics, serving as a testimony to their sacrifice for a free and united Italy. Today, it is an integral part of the city’s public memory, a place of official commemoration and Risorgimento symbol.