Lake Garda – twice! – Italian Reflections

In 2005 and in 2018 we spent holiday time in Verona. On both occasions we took a trip out to Lake Garda.

In 2005 we took the bus to and from Sirmione and in 2018 it was a round trip – a bus to Garda, a boat down the lake and the train back to Verona from Peschiera del Garda. If you adjust the map, you should be able to trace out our journey!

Now if I were to ask you in which Italian Region does Lake Garda lie, you might answer the Veneto (it’s not too far from Verona, Vicenza and Venice). You might say Piedmont (not too far from Bergamo and Milan). It’s quite far north so your answer might be Trentino-Alto Adige (not far from Trento and the Alpine foothills). Whichever of these you say, you’d be right! The Piemonte – Veneto border runs right down the middle of the north-south lake with the town of Garda on the eastern shores being in the Veneto, Salò and Desenzano del Garda on the western shores in Lombardy, while the northern-most town on the lake, Riva del Garda, is in Trentino-Alto Adige.

Lake Garda is one of those classic, beautiful Italian lakes set amongst surrounding hills and mountains …

… and even at the end of April. some of these are still snow-capped, in particular Monte Baldo …

A walk along the lakefront is most pleasant …

… wandering between the marina and the early-April tourists sitting in front of the cafés. In the distance we could make out the swallow-tail crenelations of some palazzo or other which would be the obvious focus of our wanderings …

This turned out to be the Villa degli Albertini …

… a most colourful building, not open to the public, where the only way to take a half-decent photograph is by putting your camera between the vertical spears that constitute the front gate to capture the Villa couched between two rows of well-pruned magnolias …

Villa degli Albertini, commissioned by the 16th century Becelli family from Verona, has a central, lighter coloured central block built in the neo-classical style with a temple façade. After it was bought by the Albertini family from Prato in the 19th century, their addition of salmon-pink extensions and five towers with crenelated battlements resulted in an eclectic mixture of styles.

The Villa’s main claim to fame, though, is that King Carlo Alberto of Savoy (also King of Sardinia) who wanted to unite Italy under the leadership of the Pope, free from the Austrian Habsburgs, stayed here in 1848 to oversee the annexation of Piedmont. Unfortunately, he lost in battle to the Austrian forces a month later at Custoza, near Verona, signed a truce and withdrew from Lombardy – so leaving Austria dominant, for the time being, in a divided Italy.

And so to the boat (more a water bus than a sight-seeing tourist boat) that was going to take us down the lake to Peschiera del Garda …

… so arrivederci Garda! …

… down the east side of the lake with a first stop at Bardolino and its marina. This is one of the best-known of the Lake Garda resorts and is particularly renowned for the Bardolino red wine made from the grapes grown in the fertile glacial soils found along the chain of hills behind the town …

… and on to Lazise, another popular resort. Just outside Lazise’s old town can be found family-centred campsites with their own swimming pools and not far away are the major, but MAJOR, amusement theme parks of Gardaland or Canevaworld. Lazise is also particularly interesting if you are a scuba diver. Below its water line can be found a fleet of ships deliberately sunk to avoid falling into enemy hands and a submerged ancient village! …

Just outside the old town, as an extension to the fortified town and one-time military port, is the 14th century Castle of Lazise used as a fortress of Western Verona, Unfortunately, little of the original castle remains …

… the castle suffered damage during the Venetian siege of 1438, and again in 1528 by the Austrian Habsburg army of Charles V, Archduke of Austria. During the late 18th century, the French used the castle to make gunpowder – and was partially destroyed. Later its stonework was plundered for other building projects in the area. What you see today is due to substantial renovation work.

As we left Lazise, with a look back up the lake, we could see the lakeside towns of Garda (left) and Bardalino (right) …

Now rather than heading straight south to Peschiera del Garda, the boat swung due west to make its way around to the west side of the peninsula to head towards the stop that is Sirmione …

Grotte di Catullo

As we approached the peninsula there was yet another fortification, quite similar (from the telephoto shot here into the sun) to the castle at Lazise …

Making our way round the headland it was obvious there was an interesting set of remains to be seen on the promontory …

These are the remains of a most substantial late 1st century BC Roman Villa complex, known since the Renaissance as ‘Grotte di Catullo‘ (this link here has some excellent aerial photographs of the complex) …

Gaius Valerius Catullus (born c. 84 BC – died c. 54 BC), a Latin poet born in Verona and after whom this complex is named, was undoubtedly a property owner in this area – but unfortunately not necessarily this one! This array of ruined villas, workshops and baths was more likely built as a holiday home (even back then!) for wealthy Romans living in nearby Verona.

Approaching Sirmione, we could see over the rooftops the castle we had spotted before, the 13th century Rocca Scaligera, …