Torri del Benaco

Lake Garda has a lot of nice old towns at its borders, but Torri del Benaco is sure one of the prettiest. It is a rather quiet and picturesque place with a long history, dating back to the Romans. This is reflected by the still impressive remains of the castle, built in 1383, but incorporating old parts of a Roman citadel and a castle from the 10th century that resided at the same spot. This is a 360 degree panoramic view from the highest tower of the castle:

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Close to the right to the woman with the red dress you see a wooden construction adjacent to one of the walls of the castle. This is the roof of a "Limonaia", an orchard for growing citrus fruit, that was built in the late 17th century and is still used for that purpose - here a view from below:

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If the weather turns (too) cold, the wooden "roof" construction will be covered with additional material to protect the fruits.

The one remaining edifice of the castle nowadays hosts a small museum devoted to the main trades in Torri del Benaco's history, mainly fishing. Here a look at two exhibits - a fisher boat and its net:

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And some colorful old rudders:

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Directly in front of the castle we find the magnificent harbor of Torri del Benaco, with a grand view of Lake Garda. In the background on the right side you see the Piazza Calderini with the Hotel Gardesana:

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Here the Hotel Gardesana, a building with a rather long history, in a close up view. At the time the Venetians ruled this part of Lake Garda Torri del Benaco was its capital (sort of ...), and the most important public meetings were held in here, in what is today the dining room of the hotel:

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On its long promenade running up towards the north Torri del Benaco has a lot of restaurants that offer terraces with beautiful views towards the lake:

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The Old Town offers us nice views of old buildings and small streets, mostly reserved to pedestrians:

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In fact Torri del Benaco is - because of its romantic atmosphere - a popular location for weddings; they are held for example at the castle's tower we saw in the first picture.
And there is a quite appropiate legend that says that on the highest tower of the castle once no other than the exiled Romeo stood, looking over the Lake Garda and yearning for his Julia ...

That's it! Hope you enjoyed the tour.