USEFUL INFORMATION
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MARKET DAY: Monday in Colombare; Friday in Lugana
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PORTS: Porto - Piazza Castello; Port Colombare - Via Lecco
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STATION: Piazza Einaudi, 10 Desenzano
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PHARMACIES: Comunale - Via Verona, 47; Dispensario - Via Santa Maria Maggiore, 18; Internazionale Sirmione - Via Colombare, 130
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HOSPITAL: Ospedale di Desenzano del Garda - Str. Vicinale di Montecroce
HISTORY
Famous for its thermal waters and Roman ruins, Sirmione stands out for its beauty: the castle, the well-kept village and its coastline made Catullus fall in love with it, who stayed here and dedicated famous verses to it.
Today, Catullus's Grottoes - the poet's Roman domus - are among the places not to be missed in Sirmione.
Situated on the southern shore of Lake Garda, on a long, thin peninsula dividing the gulfs of Desenzano and Peschiera, Sirmione enjoys wide fame thanks to writers such as Catullus, Stendhal, Lawrence and Goethe who celebrated its artistic and environmental beauty in their writings.
Sirmione has ancient historical origins, in fact it appears to have already been inhabited by Bronze Age men who left the remains of their huts built on stilts here.
Besides hosting an internationally renowned spa centre, it offers a rich historical and artistic heritage. Right at the tip of the Sirmione peninsula, we are left with the ruins of a very large villa, the 'Grotte di Catullo', which preserve frescoes dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries BC.
Next to the ruins is a small museum preserving archaeological finds and reconstructions of the Roman villa.
High, crenellated walls protect the Scaliger Castle with its beautiful dock, recently opened to the public, and the medieval village.
