Gargnano
Discovering Gargnano: history, geography, and curiosities
Hello friends, today I'll talk to you about a beautiful town in Lake Garda: Gargnano. Located in the north of Brescia, this town of 2752 inhabitants is characterized by the presence of many hamlets and scattered places in the surroundings, surrounded by the Regional Park of Alto Garda Bresciano.
Geography
Gargnano covers almost 80 square kilometers, with the main inhabited area where most of the population resides. The farthest hamlet, Costa (Gargnano), holds a curious record: it is one of the farthest fractions from the municipal seat, a whopping 18 km away. The town is dominated on the shore of Lake Garda by the Comer Mountain, with an elevation of 1281 meters above sea level.
The Gardesana Occidentale state road 45 bis crosses Gargnano, following the coast of the lake. From the north of Gargnano to Riva del Garda, heavy goods vehicles are prohibited on this road, given the narrow width of the carriageway and the presence of tight galleries. Moreover, from the town originates the Provincial Roads of the province of Brescia 9 which, by crossing the tortuous Val Vestino, leads to the municipalities of Valvestino, Capovalle, and finally Idro.
History
The name of the town appears for the first time in a document of 937 as ''Garniano'' and, according to some, it could derive from the Latin personal name Garenius. The presence of Etruscans, Celts, Cenomani, and Roman civilization has been testified by documents of Tito Livio and lapids.
From 1350 to 1426, the territory of Gargnano was the capital of the block in the Riviera di Salò, domain of the Visconti, and then followed its history under the dominion of the Republic of Venice. Later, after the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy, the town was visited by Benito Mussolini in 1943, who lived in Villa Feltrinelli with his family.
The old State border of Lignago. The Customs House of Gargnano called Patoàla and its two sections of Costa and Capovalle
Val Vestino officially became Italian on September 10, 1919, with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In the 1930s, a stone plaque was positioned at the beginning of the Valle del Droanello near the former provincial road that ran along the bed of the Toscolano stream, in the locality of Lignago. The plaque indicated the old State border between Italy and Austria.
In this period, Gargnano also housed a customs house, called "della Patoàla," with two sections located respectively in the hamlet of Costa and Capovalle. This customs house was very important for the control of products that were imported and exported to and from Val Vestino.
If you want to visit Gargnano and its natural wonders, located between the mountains and the lake, you will have the opportunity to make countless excursions along the trails. I hope this summary has been helpful and has helped you better know this small jewel of Lombardy.
