The long and winding road to Sirmione

After a very long drive, 8hrs 30min through the French and Swiss alps, we reached our next destination, Sirmione, Italy. A nice little community on the shores of Lago di Garda, a lake in northern Italy about 150 kilometers from Venice. We chose this town because Verona, our first choice destination, is too much of a tourist town. No vacation rentals with parking and their rates were much higher than in Sirmione. So we elected to drive to Verona which is 30 kilometers from Sirmione.

The vineyards of Northern Italy

Great place for a castle!

The apartment is nice, two bedrooms, 1 bath with a miniature kitchen and a dining area that doubles as a living room. Kinda small in comparison to the apartment in Chamonix, but it comes with parking!

Settled in and had dinner. In the morning we’re trekking off to see the castle, Castello Scagligero. It’s supposed to rain all day so it may be a wet journey.

Well, the weatherman was right, its raining today. Temperatures are right around 70F and the humidity, 100%. Sure feels like it! We’re walking the 3 kilometers to the castle to get a few pics of the neighborhood and the lake. Feels like its raining inside my jacket as well. But the rain here is more like Caribbean rain, deluge downpour for 3-4 minutes, then it stops, then it starts again in 15-20 minutes. At least you have a chance to dry off a bit before the next monsoon comes through.

Lago di Garda

The castle

Got to the castle along with 20 or so tour buses loaded with tourists. This should be interesting. The castle is located at the edge of what’s known as “Old Town”. It’s the area that was within the walls of the village and protected by the castle. This castle, by the way, is one of the best-preserved castles in Italy and a good example of a lakeside fortification.

OK, once again some boring stuff about a castle. The castle was built just after the mid-fourteenth century by the Della Scala family as part of a series of fortifications to protect their dominions. The Scala family or Scaliger family was a dynasty that ruled over the city of Verona for one hundred and twenty-five years, from 1262 to 1387.

Then in 1387, at the end of their rein, enter Gian Galezzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, who occupied Verona and the Scala territory. Then in 1405 yet another hand-over, this time to the Republic of Venice, until 1797 and another hand-over to the French, then to the Austrians, and finally back to Italy. Lots of interest in this little spit of land!

So, now that we know the lineage, what about the castle? The castle is a bit different from your usual square castle since it sits on the lakeside. There is a small dock courtyard where their ships could be secured during battle and surrounded by battlements with merlons (stone pillars) spaced out to allow for archers.

Fortified harbor

The castle grounds are entered by using one of the three ravelins (a projection or outwork outside the walls of a fortress) with a series of drawbridges. The main ravelin has two drawbridges to further impede attackers.

Working end of a drawbridge

Ravelin entrance

The central courtyard is protected by three towers that are open to the courtyard. The purpose of having them open was in the event of a breach, the towers would not provide cover for the attackers.

Courtyard with open towers

The fourth corner is where the Keep stands. The Keep is 37 meters (127’) high and at one time had openings at the base of the parapet (the protective wall at the top of the Keep) used as, ready for this, machicolations or in our earlier blog, “murder holes”. These were where all kinds of things were dropped on the not-so-smart attacker.

A ravelin entrance

Collette scoping out the courtyard.

The Keep

View of Old Town from the Keep.

We managed to make it through the castle with only a couple of breaks waiting for the rain to stop. Had a great view from the keep watching those 20+ bus loads of tourists high-tail it back to their buses. Meanwhile, we decided to stroll through Old Town and enjoy a nice pastry and coffee before checking out the shops.

Street in Old Town

House in Old Town

Looks like tomorrow will be clear and sunny. Wouldn’t you know it. Tomorrow is a break for us, got to do a bit of travel agency work for a client. But not to worry, Sunday we’re heading off to Verona, an ancient Roman city with lots to see and do. They say that Romeo and Juliet lived in Verona and you can see their houses. Doubtful!