Location: Verona, Brescia and Trento provinces
Info: Viale, Marcone 8, Sirmioni
Tel. 030 91 61 14
Lake Garda or Benaco (Lach de Garda in Lombardy and Trentino; Łago de Garda in Veneto), is the largest Italian lake, with an area of about 370 km² (third in depth after Como and Maggiore). A hinge between three regions, Lombardy (province of Brescia), Veneto (province of Verona), Trentino-Alto Adige (province of Trento), it is placed in parallel to the Adige, from which it is divided by the Monte Baldo massif. To the north it is narrow and funnel-shaped while to the south it widens, surrounded by moraine hills that make the landscape more gentle. The lake is an important tourist destination and is visited by millions of people every year.
In Roman times the lake was known as Benacus
and by some it was revered as god Benacus, personification of the
lake itself, sometimes associated with the cult of the god Neptune.
Today it is better known as Lake Garda, a toponym attested since the
Middle Ages and of Germanic origin, deriving from that of the
homonymous town on the Veronese shore of the lake, which, together
with another famous locality of the lake, Gardone Riviera, and
others less known, such as Gàrdola, Gardoncino, Gardoni, Guàrdola
and Le Garde, testifies to the Germanic presence that goes from the
sixth to the eighth century, in particular the Lombard one.
The toponym Garda, with which the lake is already called in some
documents of the eighth century, is the evolution of the Germanic
word warda, or "guard place" or "place of observation". The classic
toponym of the lake, or Benācus lacus (Benaco), is almost certainly
of Celtic origin, thus preceding the Roman dominion, and should
derive from bennacus, comparable with the Irish bennach, and would
mean "horned", or from the many promontories. The translation
"horned" is also interpreted in reference to the Sirmione peninsula.
The Latin voice of Benaco is attested as Benācus, -i and
therefore presupposes a flat accent (Benàco): the Italian version of
the tonic accent remains faithful to the Latin accent, so it must be
pronounced with the accent on "a". The inhabitants of the lake,
especially those of the Veronese shore, pronounce the name Benaco
with the accent on the "e", that is Bènaco. It remains unclear why
natives of the lake areas tend to use the slippery accent version of
the name.
According to the Venetian historian Danilo
Lazzarini, the name derives from Venacus (Venetian lake). This
reconstruction of the etymology is plausible according to Betacism.
The northern part of the lake is
located in a depression that creeps in the NE-SW direction inside
the Alps, while the southern part occupies an area of the upper Po
Valley: therefore there is a valley and a foothill stretch, the
first narrow and elongated, the second broad and semicircular. A
characteristic of Garda is the limited size of the hydrographic
basin (2 290 km²) compared to the lake surface: the 95 km of the
basin correspond to a length of 52 km of the lake, while the
respective widths are 16 km and 42 km. The eastern watershed of the
Benacense basin has a direction parallel to the axis of the lake,
while the western one has a more sinuous course. Within the basin
the major peaks are the Presanella peak (3 556 m) and the Adamello
mountain (3 554 m), and the Monte Baldo (2 218 m), located east of
Lake Garda even if most of the territory is between 65 and 1 500 m.
Morphologically, the Garda catchment area can be divided into four
areas: the plain of about 200 km², the lake surface of about 370
km², the western portion of about 500 km² and the eastern one of
about 1 040 km².
The waters of the lake bathe numerous
municipalities in the province of Brescia (Sirmione, Desenzano del
Garda, Lonato del Garda, Padenghe sul Garda, Moniga del Garda,
Manerba del Garda, San Felice del Benaco, Salò, Gardone Riviera,
Toscolano Maderno, Gargnano, Tignale , Tremosine sul Garda, Limone
sul Garda), of Verona (Peschiera del Garda, Castelnuovo del Garda,
Lazise, Bardolino, Garda, Torri del Benaco, Brenzone, Malcesine)
and of Trento (Riva del Garda, Nago-Torbole, Arco).
To the south of Lake Garda, between Verona, Mantua and Brescia, a large morainic amphitheater develops, that is a succession of hilly circles with interposed small flat areas, in some cases marshy, originating thanks to the transport and storage action of the large Garda glacier. These morainic deposits were formed during the Günz, Mindel, Riss and Würm glaciations: the two oldest, the Günz and the Mindel, are attributed to very limited morainic deposits, while the outer morainic circles are attributed to the Riss glaciation and the Würm glaciation those internal. The morphology of the hills is gentle and with delicate lines; from the highest points it is possible to perceive the relationships that link the hills to the mountains as well as the circular amphitheater shape of the hills, which seem to embrace the southern part of the lake.
These areas, inhabited since prehistoric times,
are environments of great naturalistic value, with vegetation
typical of the Mediterranean climate such as olives, vines, agaves
and other plants, which thrive thanks to the microclimate created by
the Garda basin, which makes the particularly mild winter. During
the spring wild flowers such as primroses, irises, violets and red
lilies are born, while in the summer some varieties of wild orchids
bloom. Thanks to the presence of protected areas, hares and small
wild mammals, water birds and birds of prey survive, while ponds and
ditches are populated by pike, carp and eels. The breeding of
cattle, horses and other domestic animals give a bucolic aspect to
the hilly landscape.
Particularly interesting is the
avifauna, thanks to the presence of the gray and red heron, the
night heron, the bittern, the little egret and many species of
anatidae (for example the teal, the gargane and the mallard). The
hills are an important migratory crossroads for numerous species of
falconiformes and also see the presence of numerous insectivorous
species that typically live in uncontaminated environments.
In the territory there are both protected areas, such as the Mincio
Regional Park, the Castellaro Lagusello nature reserve and the
biotype of the Frassino lake, as well as parks and gardens of great
importance, such as the famous Sigurtà Garden Park.
There are five islands in the lake, all of which are quite small.
The largest is the island of Garda, on which in 1220 St. Francis of
Assisi founded a monastery, suppressed in the eighteenth century,
and on which today stands a nineteenth-century palace in Venetian
neo-Gothic style. A short distance away is the second largest
island, the island of San Biagio, also known as "dei Conigli" as in
the 16th century there were numerous rabbits that offered abundant
hunts. The island, located at the south-eastern end of the Gulf of
Manerba del Garda, is located a short distance from the coast and
can be reached on foot during dry periods.
Along the eastern
shore there are three other islands, all of modest size, located in
the surroundings of Malcesine: the northernmost is the island of
Olives, so there is the island of Sogno, also in dry periods
reachable on foot from the coast, and finally the southernmost, the
island of Trimelone (or Tremellone).
Water
level and temperature
The average water level of Lake Garda,
which is 65 meters above the sea level, undergoes rather limited
seasonal variations, in particular when compared to the other large
pre-alpine lakes: the maximum oscillations are 1 ÷ 1.5 meters. The
limitedness of these variations is due to the considerable size of
the reservoir compared to that of the catchment area that feeds it.
The average temperature of its surface waters is 12 ° C, which drops
to 8 ° C at a depth of 100 meters. The surface temperature of the
water, however, is subject to considerable variations throughout the
year: the minimum temperature in December is 6 ° C while the maximum
in August is 27 ° C.
Underwater Orography
Lake Garda can
ideally be divided into two parts: the north-western basin (about
93% with a maximum depth of 346 meters) and the eastern basin (with
a much smaller maximum depth of about 79 meters, in correspondence
with Bardolino). The subdivision is justified by the presence of a
submerged fault between Sirmione and Punta San Vigilio which is
almost a natural barrier, which actually hinders the homogenization
between the waters of the two areas. This submerged relief has as
its culmination the "Secca di Garda" (average depth 3 -5 meters)
where an elastic floating beacon and a suitable signaling pole were
placed: "the Pal del Vo". Instead, the maximum depth lies
approximately in front of the coast between Castelletto and
Brenzone.
Phenomena
One of the characteristic phenomena of
the lake is that of the sexes, that is a sudden rise in the lake
level, on average by 30 cm, connected to a sudden drop in
atmospheric pressure. It is an event that occurs in calm lake
conditions, which occurs without warning and whose duration can vary
from a few minutes to a few hours, in exceptional cases even a whole
day.
Another recurring phenomenon is that of currents,
which consists in the movement of a mass of water in a different
direction than the water that surrounds it. They are generally
underwater currents, but they can become visible on the surface
through a sort of river that flows on the surface of the lake with a
lighter color than that of the surrounding waters. The currents have
quite varied trends and speeds and occur in always different places
and times, even if the places where they appear most frequently are
in the waters in front of Garda, Bardolino, Lazise, between
Gargnano and the tip of San Vigilio, and to the north. in Malcesine
and in Limone. The cause of this phenomenon are temperature
imbalances.
Inmissaries and emissaries
The Sarca river,
whose sources are fed by the Adamello and the Brenta dolomitic
group, is the main tributary among the 25 tributaries. The river,
which flows into the lake in the immediate vicinity of Torbole, has
formed the alluvial plain of Arco. Other minor tributaries are those
that descend from the mountains overlooking the lake: the Ponale,
fed by Lake Ledro, the Varone or Magnone, which gives rise to the
Varone waterfalls, the Campione, which formed the peninsula of the
same name, the Toscolano , which formed the wide peninsula of
Maderno, and the Aril or Ri, which with its 175 meters in length is
considered the shortest river in Italy and one of the shortest in
the world. Aril originates from a flourishing spring near Cassone,
fed by the aquifers of Mount Baldo which, due to its karst nature,
also gives rise to numerous underwater springs.
The feeding
of the lake is almost completely controlled by man due to the
construction of the Valvestino dam, the Ledro dam, the controlled
payments from Lake Molveno in the Sarca and the construction of the
Adige-Garda spillway channel, the Adige-Garda tunnel. , which is
however used exclusively in the event of exceptional flooding of the
river. The only emissary of the lake, the Mincio, is also controlled
through the Salionze lock.
The modest flow of the single
outlet (on average 58.4 m³ / s) compared to the large volume of
water contained in the lake basin generates a condition of stasis,
so much so that the waters remain in the lake for an average of 26.8
years. The slowness of the exchange is the cause of the clarity of
the lake waters, even if today the thickening of the settlements,
pollution and motor boats have considerably reduced the quality of
the water.
Among the underwater springs of
Garda, the best known is the Boiola, whose peculiarity is given by
the sodium-sulphurous thermal attributes that make this water of
good therapeutic qualities. The source gushes about 300 meters away
from the east shore of the Sirmione peninsula, at a depth of 17
meters. Until the nineteenth century the spring released bubbles in
several points and without interruption that rose to the surface,
where they gave off an intense smell of sulfur. The source was
channeled for the first time in 1889 through a pipe that carried
thermal water up to the surface of the lake, but only after numerous
attempts was it possible to succeed. From this jet came out 245
liters of water per second at a temperature of 63 ° C, and thanks to
this canalization, which would later bring the thermal water to the
shore, the town became a popular spa in the twentieth century.
The water that flows from this source has its origin in the
depths of Mount Baldo, where, at over 800 meters above sea level,
meteoric water collects, and from here it makes a journey lasting
about twenty years during which it descends up to over 2 100 meters
below sea level, enriching itself with minerals and increasing the
temperature up to 69 ° C. It is classified as bacteriologically pure
mineral and hyperthermal water, and again as salsobromoiodic sulfur
(as it contains a significant amount of sulfur in the form of
hydrogen sulphide, sodium, bromine and iodine). It also has a large
amount of trace elements, with a fixed residue of 2.476 g / l.
Lake Garda is part of that large climatic zone
that includes the Po Valley and the first Alpine valleys and which
denotes a temperate-continental climate, but which locally manifests
conditions considerably mitigated by the mass of water: this climate
can be defined as sub- Mediterranean. The place with the mildest
temperatures is Malcesine, while the one with the lowest
temperatures and a more continental climate is Peschiera del Garda.
Rainfall is well distributed, with a relative minimum of rainfall in
winter, while summer is interrupted by intense thunderstorms,
especially in August. In winter, temperatures are less rigid than in
the surrounding areas and rainfall is rather scarce, while the mists
only manage to invade the lower lake on a few occasions. On the
shores there are almost never freezing conditions of the water,
which occur only exceptionally: the last notable occurred in 1709,
when the entire lake froze, at the height of a period of global
climatic cooling that historians call little ice age.
Twenty
Garda is a lake oriented from north to south towards the Po Valley,
therefore many winds typical of Garda are the result of a difference
in atmospheric conditions between the lower and upper lakes, due to
which winds are generated that descend from the mountains towards
the plain. in the morning and ascending towards the mountains in the
afternoon. The bottleneck formed by the lake basin conditions the
blowing of the winds, many of which are periodic or even daily.
These take dialect names, so a single wind can have different names.
The best known wind is the Pelèr (or Sover, or Sauar, or Soar,
or Vént dé Sóra, from "above"), as it is often quite tense and
therefore sought after by sailing enthusiasts. It is a descending
wind that affects practically the whole lake, even if it is much
more intense in the upper and middle Garda, as after Torri del
Benaco the lake widens causing the wind to lose strength. It blows
from the early hours of the night, but strengthens with the rising
of the sun, due to the increase in temperature, and expires until
about noon. Other mountain breezes are Montis (or Montes), which
blows from Monte Baldo towards Bardolino and Peschiera, and Traersù,
which instead descends from the Brescia pre-Alps towards Moniga and
Manerba.
Other important winds, in this case ascending, are
the Ora del Garda, a valley breeze that blows from the south shortly
after the fall of the Sover until sunset. It particularly affects
the middle and upper Garda, where it gains speed due to the Venturi
effect, due to the funnel-shaped conformation of the lake and the
surrounding mountains, and the Ander, which covers the entire lower
part of the Garda.
A periodic cold wind that blows generally
in spring or autumn, and with an average duration of three days, is
the Balì: it is the most violent wind that hits the lake, originates
in the Alps but is channeled southwards by the lake. Among the other
periodical winds are the Vinessa (or Vinezza, or Vicentina) which
blows moist and cool from the south-east. Other twenty periodicals
but less frequent are the Toscano (or Toscà), the Pezzochero, the
Gardesana, the Boaren and the Avreser.
The
landscape is conditioned by the lithographic characteristics of the
rocks, by the tectonic structures and in part also by the anthropic
action. The importance of the tectonic structure in modeling the
lake landscape is particularly evident on the Monte Baldo chain,
whose ridge coincides with the culmination of an anticline. The
depression of the lake, on the other hand, derives from a fold, more
specifically from a faulted syncline then dug by running waters and
modeled by glaciers.
Other forms have been defined by
fluvial, glacial and karst erosion processes. In particular, fluvial
erosion is evident in the northern area of the basin, while
glacial erosion is visible throughout the area: this process is made
evident above all by the large morainic amphitheater created by
hundreds of hills south of the lake, formed by giant boulders,
pebbles, sand and silts. The advance and retreat action that the
glacier has undergone over time is visible in the alternation of
hilly circles. Karst processes are present above all on Mount Baldo,
as demonstrated by the numerous sinkholes and basins, and these
erosive processes are facilitated by the Triassic limestones of the
mountain, which are easily fractured.
The most interesting questions regarding the
geological data of Lake Garda are inherent to the formation of its
basin, for which various hypotheses have been given: glacial
excavation, central area of a syncline, depression of a fault
angle or river valley.
Lithology
The rocks and the
morainic and fluvioglacial deposits emerging in the lake area were
formed over a period of about 200 million years. The most ancient
formations are from the upper Triassic period and, for the most
part, it is Dolomia Principale (often whitish or pink dolomites).
The dolomites have a thickness of a few hundred meters and give life
to a harsh morphology, which becomes evident along the summit line
of Mount Baldo (here they form the nucleus of the anticline) and in
a rather large area between Lake Garda and Lake Idro. The presence
of dolomite identifies this as a vast marine platform: a shallow
seabed, with mainly carbonate sediments, having characteristics that
have varied over time from subcotidal, intertidal and supracotidal.
The rocks that go from the Jurassic to the Tertiary period, on
the other hand, gave rise to very different sediments between the
western and eastern sides of the lake: scholars speak in this case
of Venetian facies and Lombard facies, the former a carbonate
platform (i.e. a marine environment of shallow and subsident
sedimentation, with sedimentation of carbonates), the second a basin
(ie a deep submarine depression, with limestone and limestone-marl
sedimentations rich in flint).
The clear differences between
the Venetian and Lombard stratigraphic series have substantially
raised three hypotheses: one explains the difference in facies as a
consequence of a northward translation (of about 30 km) of the
Veronese area, which would have brought distant and different
environments into contact. Another hypothesis explains the
differences in a different way: the Veronese and Venetian pre-Alpine
area (a strip of about 80 km) would have been part of an elevated
area (i.e. a platform) with respect to the two sides, the Lombard
and Belluno ditches. In this case, however, the differences between
the two would have been more gradual, without the abrupt passages
that are evident, however, in the Lake Garda region. The third
hypothesis probably cites the presence of synsedimentary fault lines
that separated the platform from the pits: in this way the
transition between the two facies would be more abrupt, just as is
found in the surveys carried out.
Geological
studies have led to the formulation of numerous hypotheses to
explain the origin of the pits occupied by lakes south of the Alps,
which have similar characteristics. Both Lake Garda and Lake
Maggiore, Como and Iseo, have an elongated shape from north to
south, limited by slopes, and their bottom is in cryptodepression;
everything suggests a common origin.
According to Heim's
hypothesis these pits would be subsiding areas located along the
Alpine margin, therefore filled with water. Measurements carried out
along the N-S route through the Alpine chain have shown the
occurrence of differential vertical movements, but there are not yet
sufficient elements to establish when these types of movements would
have started and, above all, if they are also present in the lake
areas.
According to other hypotheses, these lakes occupy
areas that have sunk due to the existence of two systems of
subparallel faults (it would therefore be a graben); this
hypothesis, however, has not been confirmed with regard to Lake
Garda, whose eastern shore is a large monocline (which forms the
western side of the anticline of Monte Baldo), while an important
fault line.
The hypothesis of the excavation carried out by the force of the great Quaternary glaciers was proposed as early as the nineteenth century by Ramsey and is today also the best known, although the morphology of the rocky bottom of the basin (called bedrock) contrasts with this hypothesis. The bedrock of the Italian subalpine lakes lies several hundred meters below today's sea level. This suggests that the origin of the Benacense trench (and of the other subalpine lakes) derives from the massive erosive action of the watercourses during the strong lowering of the level of the Mediterranean Sea which occurred about 5.5 million years ago, when there was the closure of the connection with the Atlantic Ocean: it was at this time that all the rivers of the catchment area of the sea operated a strong erosive action to connect to the sea level, thus digging very deep canyons, whose bottom is now hundreds of meters below sea level. During the Pliocene the connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean was recreated, and the sea water literally invaded the deep valleys carved by these courses, depositing over time clay sediments, easily distinguishable (with seismic measurement systems) from the rocks that make up the bedrock of these valleys. Studies carried out on Lake Garda have shown that the bedrock is located about 500 m below sea level at Malcesine, and progressively lowers towards the south, reaching 1,259 m below sea level at Pacengo (south of Lazise). Only later, in the Quaternary, when the area of the current lake basin appeared as a wide valley, this was occupied by glaciers that shaped the bottom and the slopes: then, however, the hydrographic basin was much wider than the current one, and it almost certainly included a large part of the Adige basin. This in fact would explain the size of the glacier (which at San Vigilio point was 1 100 m high) and the strength with which it managed to create such impressive morainic hills.
The Benacense region is located
in the tectonic framework of the Alps, which is dominated by the
movements of the Eurasian and African plates. Europe and Africa
began to approach from the Upper Cretaceous, when their collision
produced the raising of the Alpine chain, characterized by a
structure with large blankets belonging to both the European and
African crust; the latter surpassed the European one, partly
covering it. This blanket structure is immediately interrupted south
of the Insubric Line, which forms the border between the Alps and
the Southern Alps, the latter including the Lake Garda region. The
Southern Alps are the northernmost part of the African continental
margin and consist of a succession of folds with a principal axis
directed from east to west. The section of the Insubric Line that
most affects the Garda area, as the formation of the most important
structural elements is attributed to it, is the one called Linea
delle Giudicarie, characterized by structures with NNE-SSW
direction. The best known element having just this direction is the
great fold of Monte Baldo, located along the east bank of the lake,
consisting of an anticline and a syncline.
The Ballino-Garda
Line cuts Lake Garda in half dividing the eastern part, which is
part of the Venetian platform system, from the western one,
structurally afferent to the eastern Lombard basin: the first is
characterized by sub-vertical tectonic disturbances along the fault,
even if there are large folds, such as that of the Baldo; the second
is characterized by large overthrusts of rigid carbonate rocks on
soft rocks in which lubricating surfaces were established which
favored the translation movements. The bending and depressions have
been attributed to a tectonic due to detachment along the detachment
surfaces following the lifting of the Adamello area (however, it
should be noted that a compressive component also exists along the
Adamello margin). The placement of the Adamello pluto during the
Paleogene led to important deformations and fractures of the
sedimentary cover, even if the greatest deformations occurred when
the Adamello was placed in place, that is between the Miocene and
the Pliocene. Some fracturing lines are still active and it is these
that cause the seismic events documented by man in this area.
The oldest known earthquake that struck the Garda
region seems to have occurred in 243 (or perhaps 245): it was so
disastrous that the city of Benaco, located where Toscolano stands
today, suddenly disappeared. The disappearance of the city of Benaco
is probably due to the crack of the mountain above Toscolano, which
opened up due to the earthquake and which caused the flooding of a
small lake enclosed in the mountains, which submerged the populous
town.
Other earthquakes in which the Garda area is directly
mentioned and of particular importance were those of 793, which
according to chroniclers caused great calamities especially in the
Baldo area, of 1457, during which, it is said, a mountain above Salò
lowered, of 1703, which on the lake caused the fall of numerous
houses and caused many victims, of 1810, which particularly affected
Malcesine, where it caused a clouding of the waters and the
formation of a crack 200 meters long and 18 cm wide in the town
square , in 1836, in which the tremors caused some landslides in
Mount Tomè, in the northernmost part of Mount Baldo, which in turn
caused a strong eruption of water.
In 1866 a rather long
period of seismic agitation began in the Baldo, with more or less
strong earthquakes, tremors, shaking and other phenomena of lesser
importance, which saw as the most important event the earthquake of
5 January 1892, which at 17 the whole Garda region with
extraordinary violence, causing the fall of chimneys and walls.
Other earthquakes more recently hit Salò and its surroundings,
in particular the earthquake of 31 October 1901 caused widespread
damage to buildings, some collapses and cracks in the ground, while
the 2004 Salò earthquake caused damage to some buildings.
The succession of glaciations and thaws initially
contributed to the formation of a vegetation similar to the
continental European one; following a flood in the seventh century,
the edge of the forest rose and the lake vegetation began to be
characterized in a different way: the cultivated species increased,
still typical of Lake Garda today (in particular the chestnut, the
walnut, the olive tree, vines and cereals), but also the variety of
wild species increased, making the lake exceptional from the
botanical point of view, thanks to the climate that ranges from
sub-Mediterranean on the coast to alpine in the surrounding
mountains.
Going up Mount Baldo, celebrated since ancient
times and known as hortus Europae, or "garden of Europe", due to the
vast floristic heritage and endemisms, there is a succession of
plant bands: at lower altitudes there are a large number of
thermophilic species typical of humid steppe and warm climates, such
as Artemisia, astragali, laurel, holm oak, badger and terebinth;
going up the slope, between 400 and 800 meters, you will find the
typical mid-range wood, composed of black hornbeams, ornielli ash,
downy oaks, and to a lesser extent hackberry, hazelnut and pear
trees; followed by a strip of broad-leaved trees made up of maple,
hornbeam, ash, hazel and rowan; between 1 000 and 1 200 meters the
vegetation is mainly composed of beech trees, and at slightly higher
heights there are spruces and, rarer, silver firs; from 1 700 meters
the alpine climate begins, with pines, low coniferous trees,
rhododendrons and mountain flowers. Also on the Brescia side there
is a similar succession of vegetation, even if conditioned by the
significant presence of cliffs and by the lower height, which sees
its maximum point in the 1 975 meters of Mount Tremalzo, against the
2 218 meters of the Valdritta peak of the chain of Bold.
The
Veronese shore of Garda, supported by a favorable climate with
modest temperature variations, is also called Riviera degli Olivi,
present here to a significant extent, likewise, the Brescia side is
also known also as Riviera dei Limoni, here cultivated in
characteristic pillared gardens and pebble walls, distributed in
tiers.
The fish species present in the lake are over
twenty-five. Endemic species of Garda is the carpione, a salmonid
that prefers the high Garda and feeds on plankton. Its meat has been
appreciated since ancient times, but this has caused overfishing
which has brought the species at risk of extinction. Other causes
that have led the species to be endangered include the deterioration
of water quality and competition from other species of alien fish.
The native species of the lake are: bleak, agone, eel, common
barbel, burbot, carp, chub, pike, rudd, stickleback, tench, roach,
vairone and lake trout which also reaches considerable size
(specimens of 15 kg were caught. ). While among the non-native ones
there are: pollen, carp, bluegill, largemouth bass and perch.
Water birds are quite numerous, although some species that once stopped along the banks today no longer appear, such as flamingos and pelicans. The most common species are ducks (such as mallards, gadflies, teals and garganeys), gooseberries, herons, coots and swans. The most common palmiped, however, is the seagull, thanks to the variety of its diet.
Until
the nineteenth century, the inhabitants of the lake preserved many
peculiarities resulting from a centuries-old history and profound
adaptations to the environment in which they lived. These
peculiarities were particularly evident among the people of the
upper Garda due to the less contact with the outside world, caused
by the impervious territory in which they lived, which made
communication difficult. This has led to the origin of a population
with very specific typological and morphological features, but also
to a lifestyle typical of lake people. These peculiarities have
slowly been lost since the twentieth century, when contacts with the
outside world became more frequent.
Prehistory
In the
Garda area, traces of human presence have been found, related to the
Middle Palaeolithic, in particular tools in flint, but only above
certain altitudes, as at lower altitudes the actions of the glaciers
have canceled all the clues that could have proved the presence of
man . Some signs of encampments remain from the upper Paleolithic,
in particular on the slopes of the Baldo and Stivo mountains, while
in the Mesolithic it seems that the most frequented area was that of
the Baldo due to the presence of large quantities of flint, although
evidence of this period is were also found near Nago, Arco, and
Manerba. In the Neolithic period the populations who inhabited the
lake came into contact with the culture of square-mouthed vases, as
evidenced by the objects accompanying some tombs from this period
found near Arco.
The greatest evidence of human presence in
prehistoric times, however, dates back to the Bronze Age, when
numerous aggregates of houses on stilts arose in the lower lake, but
also in the hinterland of Benaco, whose traces are rather abundant
and precise, but which were nevertheless abandoned during the Iron
Age in favor of more strategic points. Lake Garda was a meeting
point between the populations of the Reti and those of the
Venetians, whose presence is evidenced in particular by the Venetian
necropolis of Garda, as well as the Etruscans who came to traffic in
these areas. An invasive presence was instead that of the Cenomani,
who went to settle in the area between Brescia and the lake around
the sixth century BC, leaving them traces mostly in the Lombard
toponymy.
Ancient history
The integration between Romans
and Cenomani, who controlled the Garda area, probably began in 225
BC, when there was an alliance treaty between Cenomani, Veneti and
Romans, even if the actual Romanization of the territory took place
between II and I century BC, so much so that in 89 BC the rights of
the Latin cities were already granted by the will of the Roman
consul Gneo Pompeo Strabone and about forty years later Roman
citizenship was granted in Brescia (which included the western and
northern banks of the Benaco) and in Verona (which included the
eastern shore instead) . A strategic century was the first century
A.D. as roads of considerable importance were built, such as the via
Gallica, which connected Verona with Milan passing through Peschiera
(the ancient Arilica), and the via Claudia Augusta, which connected
the plain with the Resia pass and therefore the more northern
territories , in addition to some minor roads that connected the
Adige valley with the Garda, the via Benacensis (near Torri del
Benaco) and the Campiona. Two pagi were also established, that is to
say rural territorial districts: that of the Benacenses on the
Brescia area and the pagus of the Claudienses on the Veronese area.
In 268 the battle of Lake Benaco was fought between the army of
the Roman Empire, commanded by the future emperor Claudius the
Gothic, and the German federation of the Alemanni. The crushing
victory obtained by the Romans allowed the final expulsion of the
Alemanni from northern Italy, due to the very serious losses they
suffered during the battle.
The Roman presence is amply
testified by settlements, villas (in particular the well-known
Grotte di Catullo), by the remains of centuriation still visible
today in the plain north of Riva, by the remains of a sanctuary not
far from Riva, by a necropolis located in a locality of Cavaion
Veronese where numerous funeral objects were found, from some
tombstones, epigraphic testimonies and from the Lazise altar.
Medieval history
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Garda
region witnessed the passage of numerous barbarian populations, but
the first Germanic population that settled there, after a long
migration, was that of the Lombards. Their testimonies are mostly
present along the southern and eastern shores, preferred to other
areas due to their strategic importance: from here it was possible
to control both the waterways of Garda and Mincio, and the Adige
valley. . During the Lombard hegemony there was a first
reorganization, as well as the definitive Christianization of the
area, begun in previous centuries by San Vigilio and San Zeno. The
lake remained on the border between three powerful Lombard duchies,
those of Verona, Trento and Brescia, and was the center of an
important communications network, both commercial and military.
Autonomous but dependent on the abbot of the Abbey of San
Colombano di Bobbio (PC) since the Lombard period there was the vast
and rich Priory of Bardolino, the territory was included in the
Bobbiesi possessions through the control of the monastery of San
Colombano di Bardolino and which therefore ultimately depended on
the Holy See, with the territory of Lake Garda and eastern Garda,
with the Veronese properties in Verona and between the Mincio and
Adige rivers, in the Valpolicella and Veronese area and along the
Via Postumia, today under three regions (Lombardy, Veneto and
Trentino); together with the many possessions, the territory was
included in the great monastic royal and imperial fiefdom. Still in
the mid-twelfth century the document "Brief recordationis de Terris
Ecclesiae Sancti Columbani" documents the Garda properties of the
abbey of Bobbio.
The first documents that testify to the
presence of a Fines Gardenses, an entity with its own officials for
the administration of justice, even if not autonomous with respect
to the Count of Verona, date back to 825, while after the year 1000
it was established by the emperor Henry II the county of Garda, also
known as Judicaria gardensis, to which the entire eastern shore
belonged.
Starting from the 11th century, the Garda towns
began to develop a differentiated policy with respect to that of the
major centers of influence - Verona, Brescia and Trento - and this
greater autonomy meant that, starting from the following century,
many centers became free communities. These possessed comfortable
economic conditions compared to the inland countries and a strong
social awareness and sense of community.
In the thirteenth
century, however, the Scaligera Lordship established itself, which
soon subjected the eastern shore of the lake, which was
administratively included in the Gardesana and Baldo districts. The
Veronese Lords built numerous defensive constructions, in particular
they built the castles of Sirmione, Malcesine and Riva del Garda,
strengthened the port structures of Lazise and Torri del Benaco, and
built, in the hinterland, the great defensive system of the
Serraglio, unique in the its kind in Italy. This fortified system,
completed by Cangrande II in 1355, provided for isolated castles in
Ponti and Monzambano, therefore a continuous and uninterrupted
series of castles and towers connected by defensive walls that
started from Valeggio sul Mincio, which were welded to the castle of
Villafranca, and which then continued up to Nogarole Rocca. The
Seraglio remained practically intact until the mid-nineteenth
century, after which it was partially dismantled.
Modern
history
In 1387 the whole Garda territory was subjected to the
Visconti, following the defeat of Antonio della Scala, but in 1405
the eastern bank passed into the hands of the Republic of Venice
thanks to the dedication of Verona to Venice, while the western bank
was still afflicted by fights between Ghibellines and Guelphs. In
1426 the Viscontis lost Brescia (and therefore also the western
shore of the lake) which passed into the hands of Venice, also in
this case through dedication: the 34 Benacense municipalities
obtained from the Serenissima great autonomy and in Salò the
administrator of the Riviera was established. The war returned to
blood in the waters of the Gardens in 1438, due to the war between
Venice and Milan: an exceptional event, also remembered as Galeas
per montes was the passage of a fleet, consisting of six galleys and
twenty-five ships, on the slopes of Mount Baldo , pulled by 2 000
oxen. This fleet sailed on the Adige and almost reached Rovereto,
from where it was transported to Lake Garda by land through the
valley of Lake Loppio (the journey lasted 15 days). The fleet was
used in the lake to counter the Milanese one and had its greatest
success in an important battle near Riva del Garda, when the city
capitulated.
In 1508 the league of Cambrai was formed (which
also had aims on the Garda region) against the Republic of Venice:
Venice strengthened the castles of its mainland domains, including
those of Salò and Padenghe, and sent galleys to the lake, as well as
having new ones built directly on Lake Garda, at the Lazise arsenal.
During the war the Venetians lost part of their domains which were
however recovered in 1512, when the administrator was able to return
to Salò. In 1516, Emperor Maximilian I came to Italy and the Riviera
returned to German hands again, but his sudden return to Germany
allowed the Serenissima to recover the lost territories.
For
a long time the territory was not directly affected by wars: only in
1701 it was involved in the war of the Spanish succession, when the
Spanish and French positioned themselves in the Brescia valleys and
on Monte Baldo, in order to stop the descent of the imperial troops.
Years later some areas were occupied by the imperial troops, but the
sending of ambassadors by the Serenissima, which had remained
neutral, was of no avail. Indeed, during the stay of French and
German troops there were numerous clashes and the inhabited centers
were bombed several times by ships. Only in June did the war move
from the lake to other territories.
Napoleonic period
In 1786 the famous German scholar Wolfgang
Goethe stayed in Torbole and Malcesine, while exactly ten years
later the lake was involved in the Napoleonic wars: at the end of
May the French advanced to the lake and on the 30th they defeated
the Austrians in Borghetto sul Mincio and conquered Peschiera. . At
the end of July the French were defeated and had to retreat beyond
Salò, which was occupied by the Austrians. Numerous clashes took
place between the opponents on the battlefield of Lake Garda. The
following year the French also occupied Mantua, while the Brescia
valleys and the Riviera rose up, even if the Republic of Venice
maintained its status of neutrality and did not send aid to rescue.
The Veronese, on the other hand, autonomously organized expeditions
against the centers occupied by the French, but were defeated and
were forced to retreat to Verona, where the anti-French
insurrections called "Pasque Veronesi" began on 17 April. On October
17, however, the Treaty of Campoformio was signed: the south-western
shores went to the French, while the north-eastern shores to the
Austrians. In 1799 the war continued along the lake, even with raids
from the water, and the following year the Riviera returned to
French hands: the lake became part of the Cisalpine Republic (later
transformed into the Italian Republic and then again into the
Kingdom of Italy , always under French control), being divided
between the Mella department (the western shore) and the Mincio
department (the eastern shore).
Following the definitive
defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1815, a process of re-establishing
the power of the absolute rulers of the Ancien Régime began, a
process that took the name of Restoration. During the congress of
Vienna it was decided, contrary to the guiding principles of the
congress itself, not to reconstitute the Republic of Venice, from
whose ashes the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom was born: in this way the
whole Garda region returned to Austrian hands. The two Napoleonic
departments were replaced by the province of Verona and the province
of Brescia, while the Trentino area with Riva del Garda was joined
to the county of Tyrol.
Wars of Independence
The first war
of independence saw an initial, slow advance of the Piedmontese
army: at the news of its approach, Salò rebelled against the
Austrian yoke, several soldiers were taken prisoner and the Austrian
insignia demolished. During the events also Riva del Garda and
several towns on the Veronese side rose up. The Austrian army was
forced to withdraw on the Mincio line due to the advance of the
Piedmontese troops and on 4 April the Austrians were driven out of
Lonato and Desenzano, while the Piedmontese attempt to conquer
Peschiera was unsuccessful. After the Piedmontese defeat of Custoza,
an armistice was signed and the pre-war status quo was restored.
In 1859 the second war of independence began; on
18 June the hunters from the Alps managed to enter Salò, from where
Giuseppe Garibaldi wanted to leave to continue his advance towards
Veneto by crossing the lake with some boats, but new orders forced
him to move the troops to the Brescia valleys. The Italian troops,
however, managed to sink an Austrian steamship before leaving Salò.
Shortly after the battle of Solferino and San Martino was fought,
won by the Franco-Savoyards, and Peschiera was besieged, but with
the armistice of Villafranca the war ended: Garda returned to become
a borderland, on this occasion between Italians and Austrians.
During the third war of independence Garibaldi returned to Salò
again, from where the preliminary advance to the invasion of
Trentino began. Meanwhile, the Austrian gunboats that plowed the
lake repeatedly bombed Gargnano and tried to impose their dominance
by hindering the operations of Giuseppe Garibaldi's Italian
Volunteer Corps. Despite the humiliating Italian defeat by sea and
land, the Veneto was handed over to the Kingdom of Italy, except for
the northern part of the lake, which still remained under Austrian
control.
World Wars
During the First World War they fought
on the upper Garda, in particular north of the Monte Baldo massif.
On 23 July 1915 the first aerial bombardment took place in the area,
when Riva del Garda was hit, while on 10 August Malcesine was bombed
and on 25 October Riva again. The steamers of the lake were
requisitioned by the Italian army and were re-equipped as warships.
The following year some guns and artillery batteries were installed,
but on February 20 Riva was hit again. The following day three
Austrian planes bombed Desenzano, while on February 27 bombs fell in
Nago and Torbole. In 1918, while fighting raged on the Baldo, Riva
was bombed again. Subsequently, Limone and, once again, Riva were
targeted, but with the end of the war the Trentino side also passed
into Italian hands.
In the period between the two wars, the
poet poet Gabriele D'Annunzio settled in Gardone Riviera, where the
Vittoriale degli Italiani, his residence and now a museum, would
later rise. In 1922 there were some squad episodes: the most
important were against the socialist circle of Desenzano and the
municipal administration of Toscolano.
Until 1943, the events
of the Second World War did not particularly affect the lake region,
but following the birth of the Italian Social Republic, the German
command settled in Limone and, on 10 October, that of Benito
Mussolini in Gargnano, the town where they are based. 530 SS patrol;
the Ministry of Defense was based in Desenzano; the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Popular Culture and the press
agencies (the latter two centered on Villa Amadei) settled in Salò;
Fasano was the seat of the German embassy and Gardone of the
Japanese one, while the Ministry of the Interior and the Fascist
Republican Party found accommodation in Maderno. Clara Petacci, the
lover of the Duce, settled in the Vittoriale guesthouse. The thirty
part of the lake was also occupied militarily by the Wehrmacht. Soon
the XV Leonessa Armored Group was formed in Brescia, while in Verona
the "Mussolini", "Folgore" and "Abbi fede" battalions came to life.
Mussolini left Gargnano to move to Milan in a procession of six cars
on April 18, 1945.
A first heavy bombardment hit the railway
viaduct of Desenzano del Garda on 22 July 1944, while the post
office of Torri del Benaco and the anti-aircraft positions of
Malcesine were machine-gunned by planes. Subsequently repeated
bombings were carried out on some inhabited centers of the Veronese
shore. In 1945 the skies above Lake Garda were the scene of the last
battles between Anglo-American and Italian-German fighters.
In the fifteenth century, Marin Sanudo made a
review of the major inhabited centers of the lake: Peschiera,
Lazise, Cisano, Bardolino, Garda, San Vigilio, Torri, Pai,
Brenzone, Malcesine, Torbole, Riva, Limone, Gargnano, Bogliaco,
Toscolano, Maderno, Salò, Manerba, Desenzano, Rivoltella and
Sirmione. This list of centers, which at the time must have had an
important military, commercial or residential role, can still be
considered quite valid today, a sign that the anthropic geography of
the lake was now well established.
All these centers are
located along the shores of the lake, testifying to the importance
of the relationship with water for the Benacense people: before the
arrival of tourism they were centers mainly dedicated to fishing,
commerce and navigation, while in the hinterland ( in the hills or
mountains) the small villages were dedicated to pastoralism and
agriculture. The urban centers were in fact bourgeois cities in
miniature, complete with churches, public buildings, squares, the
castle and the walls that separated them from the bucolic outside
world. Today these small towns also extend outside the ancient
walls, and the dividing function between the urban world and the
more natural one is now carried out by the rapid slopes of the
mountains and the hills that surround the coast. Between the
centers, since ancient times, there has always been a road that
surrounded the lake, where all those arriving from the cities and
towns of the hinterland converged. The major centers, Desenzano,
Peschiera, Lazise, Garda, Malcesine, Riva, Salò, still give the
idea of being reference points for large surrounding areas.
In such inaccessible places and with little space available,
villages often arose, and do arise, perched along the coast, with
houses leaning against each other and with streets, consequently,
narrow and irregular, all without a rational vision of together.
Only the Scaligeri were able to rearrange the urban layout of
some centers. The Scaligera domination was in fact the domination
that most of all left traces on the territory, through the
construction of castles and walls around the towns, creating a
well-integrated defensive system: the major transformations
concerned Sirmione, Peschiera, Lazise, Bardolino, Garda, Malcesine
and Riva . Sirmione, built on the peninsula south of the lake, saw
the construction of an imposing castle with a military port, and
defensive walls with towers around the village. Peschiera del Garda
also had an important function, as a barrier of the Mincio river, so
its walls were enlarged by the Scaligeri, then demolished and
rebuilt by the Serenissima, with a more modern type of
fortification. Lazise underwent an even more drastic
rationalization, coming to resemble a Roman city: the city,
surrounded by walls, assumed a quadrangular plan and inside the
streets were traced according to an orthogonal urban layout. The
walls of Bardolino were completely demolished in the 19th century,
and even those of Garda and Malcesine (where the perched castle
remains, however) have largely disappeared today. Riva del Garda,
strategically important for communications with the Sarca river
valley, was equipped with walls and a castle.
The Brescia
side also featured equipped villages, such as Desenzano, Maderno,
Manerba, and in particular Salò. If during the Scaliger dominion the
villages were characterized by the walls and castles, during the
Venetian one in the various villages a new layout was given to the
squares, and at the same time palaces and churches were built, even
outside the medieval walls: on both sides of the lake - western and
eastern - the peace under the Serenissima gave impetus to
construction, so much so that in Garda and Salò the walls were
demolished to make room for the new buildings. Peschiera del Garda
was the only city that saw its military function strengthened: in
the 16th century, the Venetians demolished the Scaligera fortress
and built the new mighty walls to be artillery-proof; subsequently
the Austrians expanded the military structures and built an external
entrenched camp. This function became oppressive for the city
economy which recovered only thanks to the spread of mass tourism.
The Austrian domination also left evident signs in Riva del Garda,
which was literally surrounded by a series of forts.
Already in Roman times, particularly from the
early imperial age, magnificent villas were present on the shores of
the lake conceived as places dedicated to otium, an activity in fact
reserved for the ruling classes, and for leisure, due to the
naturalness of the site. In particular, Sirmione was a privileged
place for the presence of sulphurous springs that allowed a thermal
use, in fact here are the archaeological remains of a Roman villa
known with the name of Grotte di Catullo, one of the most important
Roman remains on the lake. Starting from the Renaissance, the shores
returned to be populated with noble villas, conceived as urban facts
to contrast with the countryside, making the lake, and especially
the north-western area, a destination for elite tourism, but tourism
in the modern conception of term developed from the end of the
nineteenth century, even if, obviously, it was still an elite
tourism that concerned almost exclusively the north-western area of
the lake, "for the goodness of the climate, for the abundance of
waters, for the variety of products , for grandeur and playfulness
of the landscape, courtesy of the inhabitants ". One of the first
tourist resorts was Gardone Riviera, where Luigi Wimmer, in love
with the place, decided to build a small hotel, which was completed
after his death by his wife: expanded over time, it became one of
the buildings that made up the luxurious Grand Hotel Gardone
Riviera. In its vicinity other small hotels and villas slowly rose
and, after the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio had the Vittoriale degli
Italiani built here, the fame of the place increased further.
On the Veronese shore, however, tourism arrived much later,
around the 1930s, when the current eastern Garda road along the
shores of the lake was built (previously in many points the road did
not proceed along the shore, but further upstream). And with the
arrival of tourists, "lakeside promenades" were planned, that is,
pedestrian walkways along the shores of the lake in inhabited
centers: to build them, however, numerous houses that faced directly
along (in some cases above) the Garda were partially demolished.
Since the Second World War, tourism has undergone a sort of
transformation: tourism with a long stay has been accompanied by
"hit and run" tourism, with a short stop, just for the weekend or
even for a few hours. The first is fed by tourists who want to spend
their holidays on the lake, coming from a large area (in addition to
Italians, numerous Germans, French, Swiss, Dutch and other
foreigners), while the second is fed by those who live a short
distance from the lake, and who want to spend a few hours of leisure
there. Both types of tourism have caused notable changes in the
organization of the territory and inhabited centers. In recent
years, two other types of tourism have developed, the excursion one,
for which adequate infrastructures have been created, and the
"second home" one, for which new regulations have been introduced.
Furthermore, in the second half of the twentieth century, a real
entertainment industry was formed along Lake Garda and in its
immediate vicinity, in fact a series of parks were born, now known
collectively as the Garda Parks. The most important of these are
Gardaland, a theme park with numerous tourist attractions, an
accommodation facility and a spectacular aquarium, Canevaworld,
which presents the guest with two different parks, one themed on the
world of cinema and a water park, Parco Natura Viva , a wildlife
park where you can see endangered species that the park treats and
then reinserts freely, and Parco Giardino Sigurtà, a 60-hectare
green oasis along the Mincio river.
During the high season
and the holidays the traffic is very intense, and the banks have now
reached complete saturation, which have almost become a single urban
agglomeration, with villas, hotels, campsites and many other tourist
buildings, all distributed along the only axis of flow, so much so
that today the construction of receptive structures has begun in the
innermost prestigious areas (Monte Baldo, Lessinia, Valpolicella,
morainic hills and Brescia valleys).
In the Garda region only the cultivation of the
olive tree can compete for the supremacy of the vine, here there are
in fact the climatic conditions and the soil suitable for the growth
of the vine, which is present in particular in the southern and
central areas of both banks. We do not know who introduced this
plant in this environment or when, but some testimonies report that
already in the first century Garda wine was well known and could
easily be found in the banquets of the ancient Romans with the name
of Rhaetian Wine. Rhaetian was one of the favorite wines of Emperor
Augustus, at least according to what Suetonius tells us, and Pliny
also praises the vines and Rhaetian grapes, stating that it was
quite in vogue in Rome.
The wines of Garda, in particular
from the Veronese side, are still precious and rather sought after
today, particularly the Bardolino produced between Peschiera and
Malcesine and of which Goethe speaks in his Journey to Italy. Red in
color, it has a delicate scent and a pleasant flavor.
On the lower slopes of the mountains, on the hills and in
the plains along the lake, the olive tree finds favorable conditions
to thrive: the mountains protect it from cold boreal winds while the
lake is a vital source of heat, moreover particularly suitable for
the cultivation of he olive tree is the earth, usually gravelly,
especially when covered with a layer of clay mixed with sand. On
both the western and eastern banks, the plant dominates
unchallenged. Of the olive tree, formerly cultivated in Asia Minor
and Egypt, from where it seems to have spread to Greece and then to
Italy during the Roman dominion, the times of introduction and
diffusion in the Benacense basin are not known with certainty as,
despite the first documents that speak of this culture near Garda
date back to the eighth century, this culture was almost certainly
already present in the area for some centuries.
The most
common varieties of olive trees on the western shore of Garda are
Gargnà, Casaliva and Miol, while on the eastern shore the presence
of Raza is preeminent, even if Favarol, Gargnà and Casaliva, Trep
and Miol. Along the shores of Lake Garda is produced the Olio del
Garda, an extra virgin DOP oil of high quality, such as to compete
with the olive oils of other Italian regions, even if quantitatively
the production is rather low.
In the Garda
region, especially on the Brescia side, various species of citrus
fruits are grown, probably introduced by the maritime republic of
Genoa after being imported from the East: lemon, cedar, orange,
mandarin and bergamot.
Local popular tradition attributes the
introduction of the lemon to the friars of the Franciscan order who
in the thirteenth century resided in a monastery still present today
(even if with a different intended use) in Gargnano, in whose
internal courtyard there is a portico on the whose columns are
carved oranges and lemons. In Maderno, on the other hand, there is a
former convent in which tradition has it that the friars planted the
lemon for the first time, a hundred years after its introduction to
Gargnano. However, it is not possible to know with certainty who and
when introduced citrus fruits to the lake, it can still be said,
thanks to some documents, that already in the fifteenth century
their cultivation was widespread and flourishing.
The way in
which citrus fruits are repaired through large greenhouses made of
local stone and wood is very particular: along an esplanade,
generally facing south, citrus fruits are cultivated, north of this
esplanade runs a long wall generally more than ten meters high
closed on the sides by two walls of smaller dimensions but the same
height. On the south front, on the other hand, there are pillars
about ten meters high and placed four meters apart, above which the
beams that form the skeleton of the ceiling rest, and above these
are the secondary beams that complete the roof. The spaces between
one pillar and another can be closed by windows designed to be
easily removed when there is no need to use them. Very often others
are made above the first shelf, thus forming a sort of staircase or
amphitheater. This method of building greenhouses began in the first
half of the seventeenth century, although in the previous century
there were more archaic forms of these greenhouses, which later
evolved.
Streets
The
lake is located at the center of a crucial node, between Verona,
Trento and Brescia, and is therefore easily reachable via the
transversal infrastructures of the Po Valley and those of the
Brenner-Rome axis:
A4 motorway
Desenzano exit
Sirmione
exit
Peschiera del Garda exit
A22 Motorway
Verona Nord
exit
Affi - Lago di Garda Sud exit
Rovereto Sud - Lago di
Garda Nord exit
Lake Garda is served by a road network that runs
along the entire lake and is made up of the following
infrastructures:
State road 11 Padana Superiore: from
Desenzano del Garda to Peschiera del Garda
State road 45 bis
Gardesana Occidentale: from Salò to Riva del Garda
State road 249
Gardesana Orientale: from Peschiera del Garda to Riva del Garda
State road 572 of Salò: from Salò to Desenzano del Garda
Public transport is guaranteed by regular bus
rides from the ATV (Azienda Trasporti Verona), Brescia Trasporti and
Trentino Trasporti companies.
Railways
The Garda region
can be reached directly by the Milan-Venice railway, with the
railway station of Desenzano-Sirmione and the station of Peschiera.
In the past, however, Garda could make use of a denser rail
transport network, as some railway and tram lines have been
decommissioned over the years: the Rovereto-Arco-Riva railway
(closed for operation in 1936), the Brescia-Salò tramway (1954), the
Verona-Caprino-Garda railway (1959), the Mantua-Peschiera railway
(1967) and the Desenzano-Desenzano Porto railway (1969).
Airports
The lake area is mainly served by the nearby
Verona-Villafranca airport. It is an airport used during the Second
World War by the Regia Aeronautica and which became a civil airport
in the early sixties, when it was connected by some charter flights
with Northern Europe and by means of daily connections with Rome. In
1978 the company was founded which then transformed the airport into
a real airport, then redeveloping it entirely at the beginning of
the nineties, also expanding the aircraft and car parking areas, and
creating the connection with the new Verona ring roads. , thus
leading to a significant improvement in its accessibility, so much
so that in 1995 the airport exceeded one million passengers in one
year, in 2001 it reached two million, and in 2006 it exceeded three
million passengers.
Not far from the lake there is also the
Brescia-Montichiari airport which welcomes national and
international scheduled flights for passengers, although it is
mainly used for cargo and postal services.
Navigation
The
history of public navigation on the waters of Lake Garda began in
1827, when the first steamboat on Lake Garda was launched, the
Archduke Ranieri: a wooden boat used to transport both goods and
passengers. About ten years later it was replaced by a steamer with
similar characteristics, which connected Riva del Garda to Peschiera
and Desenzano. Furthermore, between 1830 and 1839, a rather curious
boat was in operation, L'amico a proora, better known as Manubrio,
which sailed offshore thanks to the sailing apparatus, but moved
close to the coast thanks to the action of eight horses that turned
the paddle wheel of the boat by a series of gears. In 1885 two boats
of 300 people each were launched, the Angelo Emo and the Lazzaro
Mocenigo, while in 1903 the Zanardelli was launched, with a capacity
of 800 passengers, flagship of the lake fleet still in service
today. Six years later, the steamship Italia entered service, which
is still in use today.
During the First World War the
navigation service was militarized, a squadron of MAS was also made
operational, a small and fast boat used as an assault vehicle by the
Royal Navy on which a dozen men generally operated. During the
Second World War the fleet on Lake Garda suffered considerable
damage following Allied and German bombings.
In 1958 the
first hydrofoil in service on the lake was launched, the Freccia del
Garda, and again, a few years later, the hydrofoil Freccia degli
ulivi was launched. In 1959 the Ticino ferry entered service, which
operated between Maderno and Torri del Benaco, followed a few years
later by the Regina del Garda, and in 1980 by the Brennero
ferry-boat, capable of carrying 800 passengers and 50 cars. From
1967 onwards, the management of Navigarda passed to the Ministry of
Transport, which located the administrative headquarters in
Desenzano and the shipyard in Peschiera.
Private motorized
navigation on the lake is only permitted over 300 meters away from
the shore, with the exception of the promontory of Sirmione, the
gulfs of Salò and Manerba and Isola del Garda, where it is allowed
over 150 meters. The Trentino part of the lake is completely
forbidden to motor navigation. The maximum speed is 20 knots during
the day and 5 knots during the night. It is possible to practice the
sport of water skiing in favorable weather conditions between 8 and
20, while surfing can be done from one hour after sunrise to one
hour before sunset, both at a safe distance from the areas bathing.