Roman poet Caius Valerius Catullo once called it “the pearl of the islands and peninsulas” and, in the last 2000 years, many other, famous and less so, have fallen in love with this gem on Lake Garda: Sirmione, well known for its thermal waters and their healing properties, is a perfect weekend destination or even great day trip for those based in Verona, Milano or Venice.
Situated on the south bank of Lake Garda, on the tip of a long and narrow peninsula that divides the gulfs of Desenzano and Peschiera, Sirmione has enchanted with its beauty writers such as Catullo, Stendhal, Lawrence and Goethe and is popular with tourists who enjoy its gorgeous surroundings and its rich history and culture.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Sirmione became a part of the Longobard kingdom, and then, during the Scaliger regime in XIII century, one of its most recognizable landmarks was built: the Castello Scaligero, a rare example of medieval port fortification that was used by the Scaliger fleet.
The building started in 1277 by Mastino della Scala and it features typical Ghibelline swallowtail merlons and curtain-walls in pebbles alternating with two horizontal bands of brick courses. The castle stands in a strategic spot at the entrance to the peninsula and is surrounded by a moat, so it can only be entered by two drawbridges. Today the main room houses a small museum with local finds from the Roman era and a few medieval artifacts.
Also worth a visit is the church of San Pietro in Mavino, built in Lombard times around 765 A.D. and renovated in the early 14th century. The church has a rectangular plan and has three apses: the one in the middle shows a Christ in Byzantine style; the one on the left a Madonna on the throne and the one on the right a crucifixion, while the inside of the church contains frescoes that date back from the 12th to the 16th centuries and the Romanesque bell tower dates from 1070. Because the church has been used in the past as a military hospital, its surroundings were turned into a cemetery for plague victims.
Yet, the most important and famous landmark in Sirmione are the Grotte di Catullo: a famous site that consists of the remains of a Roman villa, which the tradition says belonged to the Roman poet Caius Valerius Catullus. A native of Verona, the poet moved to Sirmione and wrote splendid poems about the beauty of the place and its soothing influence on his troubled mind.
The Grotte di Catullo is the largest and most complete Roman villa in Northern Italy, and is located on the outmost point of the Sirmione peninsula on Lake Garda, giving it a spectacular view of the surroundings of Sirmione.
The villa was built soon after the Augustan period, during the 1st century AD, and is 547 feet long and 344 wide, covering about 215,000 square feet. It was built on three floors, with the main entrance to the south, where the thermal pools were located. On the long sides there were covered porches, that merged to the north into a panoramic terrace overlooking the lake. At the center was a wide open space, covered today by a beautiful olive grove.
In the Antiquarium, situated to the right of the entrance, there are items found in the villa as well as other specimens from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages found in the Sirmione peninsula, fragments of frescos, mosaic paving, ceramics and coins. The Antiquarium also collects a mysterious portrait of a poet, which many like to believe to be a representation of Catullus himself.
Sirmione is also famous for its spas and thermal baths and each year thousands of wellness aficionados flock to the Terme di Sirmione to feel renewed and rejuvenated. The Terme offer an incredible array of treatments, massages and spa packages, to learn more about it visit www.termedisirmione.com.
Gastronomy, too, makes the area interesting for a visit: as Sirmione stands right on the border of Lombardy and Veneto, on the lake shores but also close to the mountains, it presents a vast variety of dishes with different influences. Especially good are the perch and pike caught in Lake Garda: for an authentic taste of local cuisine stop by Trattoria Clementina and enjoy a great and affordable meal in this small, family-run restaurant.
Sirmione is easily reachable by car by taking the Sirmione exit on the A4 highway Torino-Venezia; the international airports of Bergamo, Brescia and Verona are all within one hour drive from town.
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