The Scaliger Castle in Sirmione, a medieval jewel on Lake Garda

Like a gem set in the southern side of Lake Garda, rises Sirmione, a small village celebrated over the centuries by the dreamy pens of important literary figures from Catullus to Goethe. The lake water skims the millennia-old walls of the Scaliger Castle, caressing time, whispering stories and chilling legends.

Among the majestic swallow-tailed crenellated towers of the Scaliger Castle, also known as the Rocca di Sirmione, resonates a legend with tragic implications. It is said, in fact, that Sirmione Castle was inhabited by two young and noble newlyweds, Ebengardo and Arice, who led a quiet life pursuing their pleasures enveloped in the dreamy atmosphere of the lake. One winter evening, as a very violent storm raged, a knight knocked on their door asking for shelter. Once greeted, the soldier Elabert of Feltrino, was immediately thunderstruck by Arice’s loveliness and, determined at all costs to have her, waited for darkness to fall so he could attack her. When the maiden became aware of the stranger’s presence in her bedroom, she began to scream and struggle with all her might, and the knight, annoyed by her feistiness, killed her. Her heartrending screams echoed through the castle walls, but by the time her husband reached her it was too late and he could only avenge her by ending the life of the ungrateful stranger. Since the night when the castle walls were tinged with a violent rubro, it is said that the husband continued to search the rooms for his beautiful bride, allowing himself to die of starvation, and that his specter continues to wander to this day in the hope of being able to re-embrace her.

Sirmione

Sirmione

Sirmione

Despite the gloomy legend, walking through the silent walls of this perfectly preserved Scaliger fortress, one almost seems to be able to hear the heavy footsteps of an ancient time, which saw entire families and seigniories pass through and bloody wars consumed. According to some hypotheses, the complex was erected starting in 1277 by Mastino I della Scala who, precisely between 1259 and 1277, was captain of the people of Verona under whose dominion Sirmione was located but, according to other studies, its construction did not begin until the mid-14th century. From 1277 Mastino I’s successors militarily reorganized the whole territory between the Veronese and the Vicentino and brought the Scaligera seigniory to assert itself powerfully in the politics of northern Italy until 1387. In this same year the Viscontis of Milan defeated the powerful Veronese family and ruled their lands until 1404.

To the Scaligeri, however, we owe the construction of the extraordinary lake fortification whose entrance portal bears two coats of arms of the seigniory, one of which is original, but abraded by time and wars, and the other recreated in the late 19th century. Located in a strategic position at the entrance to the village of Sirmione and at the maximum narrowing of the peninsula, the fortress was built as an articulated bulwark surrounded by a moat that was accessed through a ravelin protecting the fortification.

Upon entering the castle, the traveler finds himself in a courtyard formerly used as a parade ground, entirely surrounded by massive towers and the keep. The latter was originally the residence of the castellan flanked by the various dormitories for the soldiers. The 47-meter donjon, under which were the cells for prisoners, was located on the southern side of the fortress and offers, even today, an admirable view of the Garda panorama from above. Also from the main courtyard was access to the southwest tower, which, being open to the interior, allowed better control without ever providing possible shelter to enemies.

Sirmione

of Sirmione

of Culture

The secondary courtyard, on the other hand, which was created with purely military functions, was transformed in the 19th century into a covered room, connected to the main courtyard by three gates. Until a few years ago, a lapidarium was housed here with medieval artifacts, including valuable Lombard finds, which are now on display at the Catullus Caves Archaeological Museum, while only small fragments of columns, capitals and epigraphs can be discovered at the castle.

Despite the modifications and restorations that saw the castle pass through over the centuries, the fortress still presents, even today, an architectural structure similar to the coeval Scaliger forts in the area, especially thanks to the swallow-tailed Ghibelline battlements and the stone and river pebble wall technique interspersed with horizontal bands of brick. Inside the defensive complex there is an infinite number of internal staircases, dungeons and secret corridors, and to the east is the spectacular dockyard defended by three towers characterized by distinctive spear-shaped battlements. The patrol walkway overlooks a dreamy body of water that served as a shelter for the Scaliger and Venetian fleets, and the dock, shaped like an irregular trapezoid, is one of the oldest fortifications of its kind that has come down to us almost entirely intact.

The two walkways that run along it on three sides possessed different functions: the upper one was created for defensive purposes, while the lower one was used for docking boats. During the nineteenth century, unfortunately, this too was heavily modified, becoming a walkable space, but in 2018, following a restoration, the dock was finally opened to the public, allowing visitors to discover the building as it was originally meant to appear in an evocative relationship and constant dialogue between man and nature.

The Scaliger Castle in Sirmione, a medieval jewel on Lake Garda

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