Lake Garda audio guide: the stories of its sights

Imagine 2,000 oxen hauling warships up the slopes of a mountain.

That is what happened beside Lake Garda in 1438. Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy, covering about 370 square kilometres. It sits where three regions meet: Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige. Millions of people visit it every year. In 1438, Venice and Milan were fighting over its waters. Venice sent a fleet of 6 galleys and 25 ships.

The fleet sailed up the river Adige and got almost as far as Rovereto. From there, it was brought overland to the lake, over the slopes of Monte Baldo, pulled by those 2,000 oxen. The gamble paid off. The fleet's greatest success came in a battle near Riva del Garda, and the town then surrendered. Today, that same mountain is known for something gentler.

Since antiquity, Monte Baldo has been called the garden of Europe, for its wealth of plants. As you climb, the vegetation changes from zone to zone, until the alpine climate begins at 1,700 metres.

Scaligero Castle in Sirmione once had a harbour that simply vanished, silted up until it was almost forgotten, and the town's plan was to turn it into a garden.

The castle is a moated fortress at the entrance to Sirmione's historic old town, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. It most likely rose in the second half of the 14th century. And its harbour is something special. In Italy, it is the only example of a medieval military harbour in its original form. Over time, the basin filled up with silt. The town council wanted to transform it into a garden.

But after the First World War, the basin was dug out again and flooded. The water returned. How the harbour was first made is still unclear. Was the basin dug out, or was it built in the water on piles? Archaeological probes have so far given no answer. Today the castle is a museum, and the harbour has been part of the visit since 2018. A ramp of 146 steps leads up to the walkways along the walls, high above the basin.

Restored wooden stairs then take you all the way to the top of the keep.

The Grottoes of Catullus carry the name of a famous poet, yet he almost certainly never lived in the villa you are passing.

The villa that stands here was built after his death. These are the remains of a Roman villa in Sirmione, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. It was built between the end of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. It is considered the most impressive example of a Roman villa in northern Italy. Its rectangular plan measures 167 by 105 metres. So how did the poet get his name on it? Centuries later, people rediscovered the poems of Catullus.

One of them, poem 31, describes his homecoming to his beloved house in Sirmione. By then the ruins were largely buried and overgrown, so that they looked like caves. That is where the word "grottoes" comes from. In 1483, Marin Sanudo the Younger was the first to link the villa to Catullus. The name stuck. Today, the garden that once filled the middle of the villa is the Great Olive Grove.

About 1500 olive trees grow here, some of them centuries old. They belong to three Lake Garda varieties, and they make this a rewarding place to linger.

Imagine sitting quietly by a lake, sketching a castle, and being taken for a spy.

That is what happened to Goethe in Malcesine, at the Castello Scaligero, the Scaliger Castle. It is a medieval castle in the town of Malcesine, on the north-eastern shore of Lake Garda. Over the centuries it passed through many hands: the Lombards, the Franks, the Scaligers, the Venetians, the Visconti, the French and the Austrians. Then, one day, a fierce wind rose on the lake and forced Goethe to stop in the little town.

He was struck by the beauty of the lake and the castle. So he found a quiet spot and sat down to draw the landscape. The locals saw a stranger studying their castle and sketching it. They took him for a spy. He very nearly got himself arrested. In the end, his drawings and descriptions made the castle famous. It has been a national monument since 1902, and since 2017 it has belonged to the town of Malcesine.

Today it holds original frescoes, secret passages and medieval staircases. Its natural history museum, in nine rooms, tells the story of Malcesine, Lake Garda and Monte Baldo.