Desenzano del Garda

• 13-09-2021

Desenzano historical notes

The first settlements in Bro in the Ancient Age (2000-18.C.).
In the local Archaeological Museum there are, in addition to various objects, the oldest wooden plow in the world, dating back to about 2000 BC.
Between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Roman nobles elected Garda as a country residence, with the Via Emilia favoring communications with Rome. During the Lombard period, Desenzano was under the jurisdiction first of Verona and then of Brescia. Around 1170 the heretical pope Nicetas brought the Cathar heresy to these places, later suffocated by the Inquisition. In the dispute between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the latter found refuge in the Castle of Desenzano, but were eventually overwhelmed.
In 1426 with the dominion of Venice, Desenzano entered the "Magnifica Patria" becoming an important commercial and cultural center with public schools and an Academy.
The sixteenth century was a succession of bloody French foreign occupations of plagues: the League of Cambrai, the lansquenets and the plague of 1567 which added new mourning.
In the following centuries there was no lack of disputes with neighboring cities up to the wars of independence for which some battles were fought in the surrounding countryside and in 1858 on the occasion of the Battle of San Martino and Solferino the Red Cross was born and Desenzano became a large hospital.

The port of Desenzano

The port of Desenzano del Garda was the basis of the millenary activity of the Desenzano people, great merchants of cereals and grains.
Considered the most important grain market in Lombardy, large warehouses were built around the main square and the port for storing grain.
Large and fortified, it was able to house the merchants' boats who transported oil, citrus fruits, wines, fabrics and iron tools to Desenzano, returning to the starting lands with the canals loaded with cereals. Today the port of Desenzano hosts an important nautical tourist center. Losing its commercial importance with the advent of road transport by rail, the port of Desenzano del Garda, embellished and made accessible by tourists who own a boat or who wish to rent it, is flanked by a long beautiful promenade and wide, almost marine.
You can also take a nice walk towards the Lighthouse of Desenzano which offers a panoramic view over the whole of Garda.

Various Sailing offal enliven the port and the gulf with sails of every color and the space dedicated to boating is comfortable and well equipped. Since here ferries and sailing boats of Lake Garda also depart and arrive, connecting the center to many other places not to be missed on Lake Garda, including the tourist destinations of the eastern shore of the lake.

A walk in the historic center of Desenzano

Desenzano is not only a tourist city, it is a real lively and active city in all seasons, a favorite lounge for winter weekends, for the shopping stroll, shopping in outlets and evenings throughout the year.
The main internal road that runs parallel to the lakefront starts from the sixteenth-century Piazza Malvezzi, and offers more than a kilometer of elegant shop windows that alternate with tables in ice cream parlors, bars and places specializing in aperitifs and daytime snacks and a bit of life after dinner.

Source: agriturismo.life

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