Ciao, Italy. Part 3: Lake Garda. Sirmione
Official reference:
Sirmione is a town in the Italian region of Lombardy, in the province of Brescia, located on the southern shore of Lake Garda, on a peninsula about 4 kilometers long. Currently, Sirmione has grown significantly and merged with the nearby town of Colombare. The city is famous for its historical monuments and healing thermal waters. For treatment, the waters of the Boyola spring are used, the temperature of which at the outlet is 69 degrees Celsius.
- Healing spring (Fonte Boiola): The waters of this spring contain impurities of sulfur, bromine and iodine, and are used to treat ears, rheumatism, skin and lung diseases. The source itself is located at the bottom of the lake at a depth of 19 m, and already in Roman times, its waters were supplied to the surface through pipes made of lead.
- "Grottos of Catullus": a complex of the ruins of a Roman villa, where the family of the poet Gaius Valerius Catullus supposedly lived. At present, an olive grove grows on the site of the courtyard.
The cellars are the best preserved here, while nothing remains of the two upper floors that served to accommodate the owners. In the northern part of the building, the remains of a terrace have been preserved, which allowed one to admire the expanses of the lake.
- Castle of the Scaligers on the shore of the lake (XIII century), which once served as a military port of the Verona flotilla: The walls of the castle are built of natural stone and bricks, made and fired on the spot. Previously, the entrance to the castle was carried out through a drawbridge, which has survived to this day. Now the entrance and entrance to the city is carried out through a permanent bridge thrown over the canal that separates the old city from its areas on the cape. The side towers of the castle are interconnected by passages with stairs. The central tower of Mastio, 47 m high, is currently used as a survey tower.
And some personal experience:
Pension "Mercedes" (emphasis on the second syllable) is located on the shores of the most beautiful mountain lake in Northern Italy. The hosts are hospitable people, who do not speak English at all, but speak their fingers perfectly. They fed us delicious tiramisu for breakfast, tried to help and entertain us in every possible way, they gave us bicycles for the whole day for free, thanks to which we made an unforgettable trip along all the surroundings. The town is small, compact and very well-groomed (in the summer, they say, it’s not overcrowded here - there are so many tourists), the lake is beautiful like in a fairy tale, ducks and swans live on the shore. On bicycles, we rode both in the new part of the city and in the old one, which starts from the Scaliger castle itself. The views are mesmerizing, the atmosphere is peaceful… on the slopes of olive groves, you just want to lie and count the clouds.
It was nice to find a pipe through which thermal water flows directly into the lake, so we even managed to steam our legs a little : ) In a word, it’s not a town, but a charm, I want to spend more than a couple of days here. Moreover, sightseeing boats go from a small port, allowing you to view mountain landscapes from the water.
To be continued
