Description: The town of Sirmione situated in the Lombardy region of Italy is like something out of a fairy tale. It lies at the end of a flat, 4km long peninsula which widens at the end to form three rocky crags rising from the brilliant blue of the water.
The bright colours of the flowers, and the green of the olives, laurels and cypresses, combine with the red of the rooftops and the soft light to create a unique Mediterranean atmosphere, all of it set against the incomparable beauty of the high Alps in the distance.
The old centre can either be reached along the peninsula road, with its hotels and supermarkets, or more romantically by boat from Desenzano. The first sight that strikes visitors here is the magical Scaligeri moated castle, otherwise known as 'Rocca Scaligeri'. It is one of the best-preserved fortresses in Italy, bristling with battlements and turrets. It was built by Mastino I della Scala in 1250, above the foundations of the former Roman harbour. A massive 30 metre high keep towers above the castle walls, and there is a stunning panorama from the top that takes in the peninsula and the whole southern half of Lake Garda. The castle museum contains several finds from antiquity and also a 15th century Venetian galley.
Opening times: April - Sept, daily 9am-12.30 pm and 2-6pm. Oct - March, Tues - Sun, 9am - 1pm.
The old town with its jumble of alleyways and enchanting houses, is reached through just one gate, and the lake can be glimpsed now and then between the buildings. The town gets les busy towards the thermal baths, and there are several gardens on the way down to the Grotto di Catullo. High up on the nearby hill is the small Romanesque church of San Pietro in Mavino. The frescoes date from the 12th to the 16th centuries, and there is a particularly impressive Last Judgement.
Open daily from 9am until sunset.
On the edge of the peninsula is the Spiaggia Lido della Bionde, a beach for swimming and sunbathing. (open daily from May - Oct from 8am). At the very end of the peninsula are the remains of an enormous Roman villa (230 metres long and 105 metres wide), known as the Grotte di Catullo Famous for his magnificent love poems and satiric verse, not to mention his scurrilousness and wit, Gaius Valerius Catullus (87-54BC), who was born nearby in Verona, surely knew of this complex of buildings, which was probably an imperial palace, complete with its own thermal baths.
A large swimming pool in the vast complex was fed by the Boiola springs on the lake shore via lead piping. The sulphurous springs were rediscovered in the 16th century, but only re-used 300 years later. Since that time, visitors to Sirmione have been able to enjoy bathing in hot spring water. The small museum has pieces from the ruins of the villa in addition to prehistoric and medieval artefacts from the peninsula and Lake Garda.
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