Valtenesi del Garda: a region nestled among villages and hills.
Discover ancient villages, medieval castles, beautiful walks and excellent wine... all overlooking the lake!
La Valtènesi lies in the south-western area of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia. It consists of lakeside municipalities facing the lake and inland municipalities lying on the moraine hills, of which there are seven: Padenghe sul Garda, Moniga del Garda, Manerba del Garda, San Felice del Benaco, Puegnago del Garda, Polpenazze del Garda e Soiano del Lago.
Scattered with ancient villages, medieval castles towering between green and blue, beautiful villas, and towers that have marked history, the Valtenesi is also a important DOC wine and PDO extra virgin olive oil production area. In particular, a rosé wine called “Chiaretto” is produced here based on Groppello, an indigenous grape variety of the area.
The etymology of the name Valtenesi, for some historians, is derived from Vallis Atheniensis, attributable to the settlement of Athenian settlers, exiles following the Roman armies. Others trace its origin to the ancient Pieve, called Tenense in a diploma of Frederick II from the year 1221, from which the entire surrounding area took its name.
All that remains is to give an excursus to this splendid territory.
The Valtenesi villages.
Moniga del Garda.
Moniga is a beautiful lakeside village in the heart of the hills between Desenzano and Salò.
Inhabited since the Ancient Bronze Age, it has a typical medieval structure with countless narrow streets and alleys, and its Castle (dating back to the 10th century), is one of the best preserved, both in terms of plan and wall structures.
Since there has never been a stately palace and never has a local lord lived there, it is correct to call it a castle-ricetto (from Latin receptum = shelter): a simple aggregation of houses where the population of the surrounding village would take refuge in case of danger, bringing with them what they needed for sustenance.
It is therefore a defensive construction of municipal type, very similar to the one in Padenghe and the others in Valtenesi.
Not only that: it is precisely between the various castles in the area that, in the period of the barbarian invasions, an ingenious system of connections developed, thanks to which, through the use of precise signals, it was possible to warn of danger from here to the city of Brescia.
Manerba del Garda.
One of the most impressive protected areas on the entire Lake Garda is located right at Manerba del Garda: the Rocca, Sasso and Lake Park Nature Reserve (1,160,000 square metres of land and 850,000 square metres 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 reference points are the’ancient Medieval fortress with its Valtenesi Archaeological Museum, which constitutes memory and evidence of the reasons why man has decided to settle in this wonderful environment since ancient times (some findings date back to the Mesolithic period - 8000-5000 B.C.).
The Rocca, or the foundations and remains of an ancient medieval castle, is located on a 150-metre-high rock spur overhanging the lake, which make it an unmistakable landmark of the coastal profile of Lake Garda, easily recognisable from any vantage point.
We also point out the numerous beaches which for almost 12 kilometres offer a variety of perspectives of the lake and mountains, and the beautiful Island of San Biagio.
San Felice del Benaco.
The area of San Felice del Benaco is located between the gulfs of Salò and Manerba and also includes the small town of Portese, together with the beautiful Garda Island.
In addition to beautiful walks through olive groves and quiet cobbled beaches, in its historic centre we admire the Castle medieval, the Rotingo Palace, current seat of the municipality, and the Parish Church, the work of the famous Brescian architect Antonio Corbellini, inside which a Romanino's altarpiece.
Nearby, the remains of the Castle of the fraction of Portese and the cosy Sanctuary of the Madonna del Carmine, dating back to the 15th century.
