'Peschiera del Garda' (
Latin: 'Ardelica', 'Arilica' and 'Ariolica'), is a town and ''comune'' in the
province of Verona, in
Veneto,
Italy. When
Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called
Quadrilateral. The fortress is on an island in the
Mincio River at its outlet from Lake Garda.
History
Roman Ardelica was a town of
Gallia Transpadana, which occupied the site of the modern Peschiera del Garda, at the southeast angle of the Lacus Benacus (
Lago di Garda), just where the Mincius (modern Mincio) issued from the lake. The name is found under the corrupted form Ariolica in the
Tabula Peutingeriana, which correctly places it between Brixia and Verona; the true form is preserved by inscriptions, from one of which we learn that it was a trading place, with a corporation of ship-owners, ''collegium naviculariorum Ardelicensium''. (Orell. Inscr. 4108.) The town is mentioned as Arilica in
Pliny the Elder's ''
Naturalis Historia''.
The fortress at Peschiera played a prominent part in most of the military campaigns conducted in northern Italy after 1400, but especially so during the
Napoleonic wars. During the
First Italian War of Independence, it was taken by the
Piedmontese from the
Austrians, after a gallant defence by
General Rath lasting six weeks, on
May 30,
1848.
Peschiera del Garda was also famous for his
military jail, closed in 2002.
The comune is part of the
Associazione Città del vino ("Association of Wine Cities").
In winter, the nearby
Laghetto del Frassino the most important habitat for
Tufted Ducks in Italy (Morbioli & Sighele 2006).
Main sights
★ The Fortress and the external fortifications
★ Sanctuary of ''Madonna del Frassino'' (1511). It houses works by Paolo Farinati and
Zeno da Verona
Bounding communes
★
Castelnuovo del Garda
★
Valeggio sul Mincio
★
Ponti sul Mincio
★
Pozzolengo
★
Sirmione
Twin cities
★
Ulà Tirso,
Italy
★
Villa Carlos Paz,
Argentina
References
★
L'avifauna del Laghetto del Frassino (Peschiera del Garda, Verona, Veneto), , Marco, Morbioli, Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona Botanica Zoologia, 2006 PDF fulltext
★
External links
★
Associazione Città del vino (association)
★
Mapquest - Peschiera del Garda