About
A unique medieval example of a port defence can be seen inside one of Italy's best-preserved castles.
The city of Sirmione is situated on a small peninsula that juts out into the southernmost part of Lake Garda for more than two kilometres. The influential Della Scala family of Verona, whose members were known as Scaligeri, ruled Sirmione at the end of the Middle Ages, when communes were expanding in Italy. The ruling family commissioned the construction of a stronghold on Sirmione's promontory in the second part of the 14th century. The castle had military purposes, but it also functioned as a minor port, providing Scaliger and Venetian fleets with a safe haven on its piers. Towers and battlements round the whole castle, including the port. When the region was administered by the Republic of Venice in the following century, the building was expanded and refurbished. Until a new fortress was built in neighboring Peschiera del Garda in the 16th century, the castle remained the most significant fortification in the area.
