Lake Garda

Lake Garda, or “Benaco”, is the largest of the pre-alpine lakes in Italy, as well as the one with the richest history.

The name “Benaco” would appear to be of Celtic origin, with “Ben” - meaning “tip” – referring to the little peninsulas and headlands that jut out over the lake’s waters, and since ancient times the lake has provided the inspiration for some of the most beautiful pages in Greek and Latin poetry, as indeed for Dante, who dedicated two tercets replete with geographical indications to it in the Divine Comedy.

The lake’s present-day name, “GARDA”, dates back to the Middle Ages and derives from the gothic “Warda”, meaning “guard”, a reference to the rock that towers above the gulf of the same name.

The area around Garda has prospered since time immemorial thanks to its mild climate and the bright, attractive landscapes of the northern part of the lake, the morainic hills to the south, the stretches of olive groves and vineyards, the colourful flowers – especially the bouganvilles – and the history of the industrious local people.

The area boasts a unique landscape and environment, with particular geomorphological features.

This is the only lake in the Pre-Alps that stretches out over the high plain, shifting in appearance from a valley-type lake - with the characteristics of a fjord, similar to the other pre-alpine lakes – to a little sea on the plain.  

For visitors coming from the north of Europe, the Val Lagarina leads to Torbole and Riva del Garda, where they will be met with a landscape that in every way resembles the fjords in the Nordic countries, with Mount Baldo overlooking it on the eastern side.

Lake Garda is fed by water from two different sources: direct rainfall on the surface and the flow into the lake from the surface or underground.

The lake is not simply a homogeneous blend of different types of water; it is characterised by a range of diverse environments, each of which forms a microcosm.  
Sunlight penetrates the surface, resulting in the clear blue colour, in accordance with physical laws.

As a result of its distinctive features and the fascination they hold, Lake Garda has attracted the attention of many academics that have posed the question of how it was formed.  

In 1786, the poet Wolfgang Goethe, during his “Italian Journey” took a boat trip around the shores of the lake, and was awestruck by the lively scene that met his eyes, by the magnificent views formed by the olive groves stretching out in the distance and the greenhouses filled with citrus trees. Goethe, a man of the North, saw these aspects of the landscape as heralding the natural beauties of the Mediterranean, and he was so enchanted as to point out its charms to other German, French and English writers, who subsequently followed in his footsteps in search of peace and quiet, finding this area to be an excellent backdrop for their novels.  
Since then, a growing number of visitors have decided to frequent the banks of Lake Garda, attracted here by the Mediterranean-like climate, the light and the colours of the lake.

The surface area of the lake is 368 km2, and its shores touch upon three regions: Lombardy to the west, Veneto to the east and Trentino to the north, each boasting a particularly industrious province of considerable importance for the Italian economy: Brescia, Verona and Trento.