May 16 - Lake Garda - Around the Lake and Brescia

May 17th -  This morning we board the bus for a trip around the lake.  We head north on the west side of the lake.  The lake is the largest in Italy and is about 32 miles long.  The northern and southern ends of the lake are very different.  The southern shore is relative flat with many towns located around the edge and the lake is shallow while the northern shore is very mountainous with only a few towns and the lake is very deep at over 1,100 ft.  Located on the southeastern shore of the lake is Gardaland one of Italy's most famous theme parks.  Here is a photo of the lake taken from space.  As you can see the built up area around the lake is almost all on the bottom third.

Our first stop is for a coffee break in the town of Salò.  It is a very pretty town located right on the lake shore and is about the last town before the lake shore becomes very mountainous.  Supposedly Salò was originally a Etruscan settlement in the 5th century BC which was then take over by the Romans.  In the medieval era it was controlled for a time by the Visconti family of Milan but eventually fell under the control of Venice.  Here is a photo up along the lake shore showing the town with the steeple of the Duomo at the far end.

Here is some of our crew having a coffee.  Pat and I stopped for a hot chocolate which was excellent but was more of the consistency of a thin pudding then a beverage.

Here is the facade of the Duomo.  At the time this church was built the practice was to highly decorate the interior and leave the exterior plain.  This was true in this case and the interior was spectacular but they wouldn't let me take any photos inside.

Here is a photo of the interior that I was able to download from Wikipedia.

Here is another photo of the northern end of the town showing the tower of the Duomo.

Once we left Salò, the coast became very mountainous and in some cases the cliffs came right to the water's edge and we had to use tunnels to proceed north.  Here is a photo of one of these tunnels.  In some cases the tunnels were so narrow that our bus would have to wait until no one was coming the other direction before we could proceed.

We are approaching the town of Limone su Garda and what this photo is showing is a small lemon grove.  Lemons were brought to this area by the monks in the 14th century and this was an important source of lemons in the middle ages.  The columns and trellises are used to protect the lemon trees in the winter.

Here is a photo of Limone su Garda which today is a busy tourist spot.  Until the shore road was finished in 1932 the only way to reach this town was by boat or mountain road and it was a peaceful fishing village.  The name of the town comes from the word for border not from lemon as it had its name long before the lemons arrived in town.  Very scenic and reminds people of Portofino on the Italian Riviera.

In the 1979, doctors in Milan found that many residents of Limone had high levels of cholesterol without any of the attendant damage or symptoms.  They also found high longevity in the population.  Investigation revealed that some residents of Limone had developed the ability to produce a particular protein that counters the effect of cholesterol.  They were able to track the mutation back to a couple who lived in Limone in the 17th century.

We've reached the northern end of the lake and are stopping for lunch in the town of Riva del Garda.  The area has been settled since Etruscan and later Roman times.  During the middle ages it was controlled by a number of Italian cities until falling under the control of the Austrians.  It did not become a part of modern Italy until after World War I.  Here is a photo of the small harbor and part of the town.  The tower is the Torre Apponale and dates from the 13th century when it was built to defend the town.

Here is a look down the lake.  You can see how rugged the shore line is as the mountains come right down to the waters edge.

High above the town is this shrine to St. Umberto.  Not sure how you get to it.

After a nice lunch on the lake shore, we headed down the eastern side of the lake.  This area was controlled by the Venetians in the middle ages and here is an example of an old Venetian fortress on the lake shore.

After completing our trip around the lake we drove to Brescia.  Brescia was founded about 3,200 years ago and has the best preserved Roman ruins in Northern Italy.  We didn't have a lot of time so we limited ourselves to visiting the site of the Duomo Vecchia and the Duomo Nuovo (Old Cathedral and New Cathedral).  Here we are walking down one of the streets in Brescia on the way to the Duomo.

The Duomo Vecchia dates from the 11th century and is built on the site of a 7th century church and the Duomo Nuovo dates from 1604 and is built on the site of a 5th century church.  The Duomo Vecchia is the Winter Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunte and is the smaller round church to the right in this photo and is a rare example of a circular Romanesque church.  The Duomo Nuovo is the SummerCathedral of Santa Maria Assunte and is large chuch in the center with the green dome.

Here is the main nave and altar of the Duomo Nuovo.

Here is one of the side altars.

This glass case holds a relic of St. Benedict who is considered to be the patron saint of Europe.  St. Benedict died in about 545 and this relic was donated to the Abbey of Monte Cassino in 759 and then given to the Brescia Cathedral in the 15th century.

It sits in front of one the the side altars in front of the tomb of St. Apollonius who was bishop of Brescia in the 4th century.

And finally here is the main altar in the Duomo Vecchia.

And here is one of the side altars.

In the floor of the Duomo Vecchia they have saved some of the original floor mosaics which date way back. You can see them through these glass tiles that have been set in the floor.

After this we headed back to our hotel.  Tomorrow we will visit a couple of the towns in the area.