Valtenesi del Garda: a wine-producing area surrounded by villages and hills.

Discovering ancient villages, medieval castles, beautiful walks and excellent wine ... all overlooking the lake!

Valtènesi lies in the south-western area of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia. It is made up of coastal municipalities overlooking the lake and municipalities in the hinterland lying on the morainic hills, which more precisely are 7: Padenghe sul Garda, Moniga del Garda, Manerba del Garda, San Felice del Benaco, Puegnago del Garda, Polpenazze del Garda and Soiano del Lago.

Scattered with ancient villages, medieval castles that dominate between green and blue, splendid villas, and towers that have marked history, Valtenesi is also an important production area of DOC wine and DOP extra virgin olive oil. In particular, here is produced a rosé wine called “Chiaretto” based on Groppello, a native grape of the area.

The etymology of the name Valtenesi, for some historians, derives from Vallis Atheniensis, attributable to the settlement of Athenian colonists, exiles following the Roman armies. Others trace its origin back to the ancient Pieve, called Tenense in a diploma of Frederick II of the year 1221, from which the whole surrounding area took its name.
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The villages of Valtenesi.

Moniga del Garda.

Moniga is a beautiful village on the lake, in the heart of the hills between Desenzano and Salò.
Inhabited since the ancient Bronze Age, it has the typical medieval structure with countless streets and alleys, and its Castle (dating back to the 10th century), is one of the best preserved, both for what concerns the plant and for the structures masonry.
Since there has never been the presence of a noble palace and never a local gentleman has lived there, it is correct to define it as a castle-shelter (from the Latin receptum = refuge): a simple aggregation of houses where the population of the surrounding village took refuge. in case of danger, taking with him what is necessary for his sustenance.
It is therefore a municipal defensive construction, very similar to that of Padenghe and the others present in Valtenesi.
Not only that: it is precisely among the various castles in the area that, in the period of the barbarian invasions, an ingenious connection system was developed thanks to which, through the use of precise signals, it was possible to warn of the danger from here to the city of Brescia.

Manerba del Garda.

One of the most evocative protected areas of the entire Lake Garda is located in Manerba del Garda: the Rocca, del Sasso Nature Reserve and the Lake Park (1,160,000 square meters of land and 850,000 square meters of lake). Established to protect and enhance the natural and landscape characteristics of the area with the ancient and archaeological ones, as an important heritage of history and biodiversity.
The main points of reference are the ancient medieval fortress with its Civic Archaeological Museum of Valtenesi, which is a memory and testimony of the reasons for which man has decided to settle in this wonderful context since ancient times (some finds date back to Mesolithic – 8000-5000 BC).
La Rocca, that is the foundations and the remains of an ancient medieval castle, is located on a spur of rock over 150 meters high overlooking the lake, which make it an unmistakable reference of the coastal profile of Lake Garda, easily recognizable from any panoramic point.
We also point out the numerous beaches that for almost 12 kilometers offer a variety of perspectives of the lake and the mountains, and the beautiful island of San Biagio.

San Felice del Benaco.

The San Felice del Benaco district is located between the gulfs of Salò and Manerba and also includes the small town of Portese, together with the splendid Isola del Garda.
In addition to the beautiful walks among olive groves and the quiet cobbled beaches, in its historic center we can admire the medieval castle, the Palazzo Rotingo, current seat of the Municipality, and the Parish Church, the work of the famous Brescia architect Antonio Corbellini , in whose interior stands an altarpiece of the Romanino.
In the surroundings, the remains of the Castle in the hamlet of Portese and the intimate Sanctuary of the Madonna del Carmine, dating back to the 15th century, are worth a visit.