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Lake Garda | |||||||||
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Lake Garda includes a territory, between Alps and the Padan Plain, which consists of many different realities, such as territory, culture, food, dialects, related with one another by the Garda as a way of transport, commerce, history, source of subsistence. A place of transit to and from the Germanic countries since ancient times, it was the border land and place of violent battles, first among the “signorie” of the centre-north of Italy, between Venice and Milan, later between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, and finally, scene of the first and second World Wars. It is therefore a place rich in historical testimonies of the various ages, from the Paleolithic to the Roman and the Medieval, from the Independence Wars to the World Wars.
Lake Garda can be roughly divided in:
Upper Lake: Ledro Valley, Lower Sarca Valley, Gresta Valley, Vallagarina, town of Trento.
Mid-western Lake: Lemons Riviera, Upper Garda Park (Brescia side), Valvestino, Valtenesi. Mid-eastern Lake: Mount Baldo and eastern Lake, Terra dei Forti (Land of the Forts), Valpolicella. Lower Lake: Plain of Lombardy, Morainic Hills, Plain of Veneto, towns of Brescia, Mantua and Verona. The natural beauty of the places is completed by the beauty of the buildings, the most ancient ones having a religious and a military function (castles and fortifications), witnesses of a journey that goes from the simplicity of the ancient Romanesque “pievi”, that arose with the spreading of Christianity, to the widespread distribution of parishes, chapels, votive capitals, up to the richness of ornaments, paintings, marble altars, pulpits and other works of art, oftentimes gifts from wealthy local families, a sign of the changed conditions of life.
Public buildings of a significant historical and artistic value have a more recent history; they start appearing in the XIV-XV century with the domination of the “Serenissima” Republic of Venice, when the rural buildings, in a similar fashion to and almost at the same time of the religious buildings, are embellished with frescos and ornaments, thus becoming palaces and valuable villas with gardens and parks; in the historical centres this tendency translates into a new concept of town planning, that makes way to new roads, squares, fountains, sometimes causing the demolition of the fortification walls. Another boost to the public building industry comes in the XIX and XX centuries, when travelling becomes facilitated by new means of transport like the steamboat and the railway, and when, due to the peculiarity of the nature and to the lake climate, the Garda becomes a popular destination, making way to the construction of renowned villas and historical hotels, to the improvement of the roads, of the squares and of the lakeside promenade.
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