The lock, designed and constructed by the engineer Gabriele Bertazzolo from 1605 on, and dam, the first of which may be a work ascribable to Alberto Pitentino and aimed at regulating the level of the lakes surrounding the city of Mantua, are now visible to the public after an extraordinary restoration project.

The imposing hydraulic constructions can today be enjoyed along a visitor route that starts from the former house of the water official, converted to a museum and complete with multimedia features and info-points.

The scattered museum has a visitor centre with expert educational staff that offers exceptional and direct illustration via a historical and environmental route, with special reference to the functioning of the structures and machinery that created the Mantua lake system and allowed the navigation on which local prosperity relied.

The  scattered river museum is the first of the centres interpreting the area belonging to the Ecomuseo della Risaia, dei Fiumi e del Paesaggio Rurale Mantovano.