Hotel Giardinetto

"Desenzano, on Lake Garda, Sunday in the grass, before me the waves of the reed beds, the sun is shining, my only sense of happiness"

These were the words of Franz Kafka speaking of his stay in Desenzano, when he visited here in 1913. Lying at the centre of a wide gulf, Desenzano is now a well known tourist resort and commercial centre: in the 1400's it already had one of major cereals markets which dictaced the prices for the surrounding area. Developed from a historical town centre, it has, in recent years, become a crucial point for ferry transport and for numerous excursions to Verona, Brescia and Mantova. Founded by the Romans, contended for by Brescia and Verona in the Middle Ages and finally ruled by the Venetian Republic in the fifteenth century. Desenzano preserves, in the beauty of its lakeside promenade and the small streets of the historical centre, all the charme of the past. From the antique Roman town Desenzano still has the Villa Romana from the IV century B.C., where it is still possible to see the beautiful mosaic floors (over 200 mt.), whilst other objects and furnishings are gathered in the nearby Antiquarium. On the lakeside promenade there is also a Roman sarcophagus upon which are carved scenes of family life. The Castle is from the the late Middle Age period and was later rebuilt in the XIV and XV centuries. In 1883 the fortress became a parede-ground and barracks which were later abandoned. From its lookout there is a charming view of Desenzano, the harbour and the gulf beyond. The Renaissance Cathedral stands in Piazza Malvezzi and inside, as well as works by Andrea Celesti and Zenon Veronese, houses a Last Supper by Giambattista Tiepolo. The design of the sixteenth century Palazzo of the Town Council, now the Palazzo for Tourism, was by Brescian architect Giulio Todeschini, the Palazzo of Governor was also built to his design. The centre of Desenzano, which has the largest pedestrian precinct in the whole Lombardy, offers a historical old town with singular alleys and several houses frescoed with votive images. In the alley named after Pietro Signori you can see the splendid Madonna of the Rosary, in via Annunciata there is a S. Sebastian and there are also several santelle or little saints, placed in picturesque niches dotted around the town. The renaissance convent of Santa Maria de Sinoribus now houses the Civil Library and the Archeological Museum. Among the objects preserved there, there is a plough from 2000 B.C.