What to see in Torri del Benaco, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including Scaliger Castle, San Giovanni Church and Crero village.
Tourist information
A town in the Veneto region, located on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, Torri del Benaco extends around the port, overlooked by the Scaliger Castle, an imposing fortification that originates from a Roman castrum, rebuilt by the Scaliger family in 1383.
The Castle houses the ethnographic museum and a citrus greenhouse, for the construction of which the outer wall was demolished in the eighteenth century.
Nearby is the fifteenth-century Palazzo del Consiglio della Gardesana, now used as a hotel, which in the past, between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, was the seat of the Council of the Federation of the ten municipalities of the lake, also known as "Gardesana from the water" , who had the task of preventing smuggling and collecting taxes during the government of the Republic of Venice.
Among the churches in the area, there is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles, built in 1719 in the place where a pre-existing building was seriously damaged, which houses numerous works of art.
The Church of the Holy Trinity, dating back to the fourteenth century, hosted religious ceremonies when the Gardesana dell'Acqua met.
The Church of San Giovanni, a Romanesque parish church dating back to the twelfth century, located just outside the town walls, was first the Church of the Lazaretto and subsequently the Church of the cemetery of the municipality, currently, after a long restoration work, it is used by the community as auditorium.
The village is surrounded by an enchanting landscape, characterized by green hills adorned with centuries-old olive groves, which stretch out on the steep and sunny terraced slopes.
What see
In front of the village you can admire the imposing mountains that rise on the opposite shore of Lake Garda.
The origins of Torri del Benaco date back to prehistoric times, as evidenced by the rock carvings located in various locations scattered throughout the municipal area.
The largest incision is the "Big Rock", located near Crero, a small fraction of the municipality of Torri del Benaco at 207 m a.s.l., a location that offers a beautiful view of the northern part of Garda.
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Near Crero, in another splendid panoramic position, stands the small village of Pai, perched on the side of Mount Baldo, where it is possible to admire the remains of ancient fortifications, in addition to the parish church of Pai dedicated to San Marco, obtained by expanding the ancient chapel of the castle, demolished with the descent into Italy of Barbarossa.
Inside the cemetery there is a Romanesque church dedicated to San Gregorio Magno, which was the old parish church of Pai until 1450, with frescoes from the Romanesque period, the rest is the result of interventions that took place in the following centuries.
Another fraction of Torri del Benaco is Albisano, a village located in a suggestive position at 309 meters above sea level, gathered around the Church of San Martino.
The building, already present in the fifteenth century, underwent a radical transformation, following the restructuring that took place around the mid-eighteenth century.
