Peschiera del Garda old town
Sights in the fortified town of Peschiera del Garda on the Mincio in the south of Lake Garda
Enclosed by a star-shaped fortress, the medieval old town of Peschiera del Garda at the southeast end of Lake Garda is crisscrossed by water channels. The unique symbiosis of thick fortress walls, lake and river landscape gives it a very special charm. Peschiera del Garda is not only located directly on Lake Garda - its only outflow also flows through the middle of the old town center. We are talking about the river Mincio, which flows from here to Mantua and then into the Po at Governolo. This once important trade river still divides upper Italy into a Lombard and a Venetian half.
History of Peschiera del Garda Old Town
The Romans already appreciated this strategic and protected position and built a fortress here. In the course of history, this fortress was rebuilt and extended several times and was often hotly contested. Whoever held this town not only controlled the southern shore of Lake Garda, but was also able to cross the natural border of the river, which was otherwise almost insurmountable. For a long time there was no bridge from Peschiera del Garda to Mantua, which led across the lake and swamp landscape along the Mincio, which had been almost impassable in the past. In addition, Peschiera del Garda provided a direct link to the Mediterranean, especially since it was once possible to sail on the Mincio as far as the Po.
The town owes its present appearance in particular to the Venetians, who turned it into a massive fortified town in the 16th century, and to the Habsburgs, who extended this bastion once again in the 19th century. Peschiera del Garda, now surrounded by 2 km of fortified walls, then formed a fortified quadrangle with Verona, Legnago and Mantua, which was supposed to stop the italian unification movement. However, these plans were shattered when it was captured by Piedmontese troops in 1848....
Interesting facts about Peschiera del Garda Old Town
Once the town lived mainly from fishing. Especially popular was the eel, which was even included in the town's coat of arms.
Even before Goethe made his first trip to Italy, the writer and scholar Wilhelm Heinse set out for the south in 1780. On his return journey he also passed Lake Garda, which was to find expression in his novel "Ardinghello". Thus, part of the plot takes place on a country estate in Peschiera del Garda, his first stop on Lake Garda. Even before Goethe's "Italian Journey" this work was to open up a new view of Italy to german readers and place the Renaissance on a par with Roman antiquity.
First, however, Heinse noted in his diary: "About a miglie from Pesqiera one beholds the Lake di Garda, one of the most charming perhaps in the world, so splendid and beautiful do the mountains gradually rise around it [...] Below lies still and flashing and calm and bright the lake in lovely, voluptuous fertile green of the trees and mild schoosh of the earth."
Pictures Peschiera del Garda old town
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