Garda Trentino: a mix of alpine landscape and fertile Mediterranean climate where you can get the best of natural, cultural and culinary treasures like the famous cliffs if you are a climber, the mountain peaks if you are a mountain bike hero or the ancient churches, monuments, museums, towers and hamlets if you are a culture enthusiast.
When you think of Garda Trentino you think of its superb natural beauty. Anyway, a holiday here also means to gill up on culture. Here’s our top 10 culture to discover 10 cultural places you cannot miss while on holiday at Garda Trentino.
- Chiesa dell’Inviolata – Riva del Garda. One of the most bizarre and prestigious monuments. They built it in 1603 in an elegant Baroque style. Its outer plan is square, but its inner square is octagonal! Five altars, three doors, frescoes, stuccoes and confessionals made of sculpted wood… amazing, isn’t it? Remember to give a look at the high altar that guards the picture of the Miraculous Lady.
- Rocca of Riva del Garda and the MAG. This fortress was built in 1124 by the lake. Gradually, the Rocca has conformed to the history of this territory until mid-nineteenth century, when they turned it into an Austro-Hungarian barracks and lost its medieval and Renaissance features. Nowadays, it houses the prestigious museum MAG-Museo Alto Garda. Inside, you can find landscaped painted by painters that, in the nineteenth century, loved the views of Garda; a priceless archaeological section with worldwide famous statues and relics; temporary exhibitions; unforgettable views from the keep.
- Galleria Civica G.Segantini. (Check opening period here) Named after the Divisionist painter from Arco, Giovanni Segantini, this art gallery is housed in the wonderful Palazzo dei Panni, built at the end of the seventeenth century. It is one of the two exhibition venues of the MAG Museo Alto Garda – the other is the Museo di Riva del Garda. Inside, you can visit the traditional area with paintings, graphic art works and historical documents on the painter, and an interactive area. Every year, in this art gallery they show a temporary exhibition on Segantini’s subjects. They set it up in a hall where they screen the museum version of the movie “Segantini, ritorno alla natura”.
- Castles & Co. The castle of Arco, the castle of Drena, the ruins of Castel Penede, the castle of Tenno (available for outside visits). You must visit the castles at Garda Trentino. Crenelated towers and massive walls will make you feel like princes and princesses for a day!
- Hydroelectric generating station of Riva. (Check opening period here) A real architectural jewel by the architect that built the Vittoriale of Gabriele D’Annunzio, Giancarlo Maroni. A visit inside (good for children, too) will surprise you with original multimedia exhibitions that will make you understand the power of water and the engineering genius. The all-around view from the terrace on the “busa” is stunning.
- Apponale Tower. 165 steps to the top. Anyway, once you are up there, the view is breath taking. The Tower is a symbol of Riva del Garda. Built in the main square, they built it in the fourteenth century with stone ashlars of different sizes as protection of the port and the square. In the Twenties, they replaced the onion-shaped summit with the current one. Tourists always take dozens of pictures to it.
- Cultural Walks. Generally speaking, a cultural holiday at Garda Trentino is like “going for a walk”. Yeah, here you are spoilt for choice. Whatever place you want to go to is very interesting and tells about famous minds of the past like Goethe or Rilke. The urban trekking is trendier and trendier and is a great occasion to trace the history and traditions of a place. In Riva del Garda, Arco and Torbole among art, lake and beautiful nature… Are you still undecided?
- Canale di Tenno. Wanna live a walk into history? Go to Canale di Tenno! Here, the past is still untouched. A thrilling village, one of the most beautiful hamlets of Italy. Canale is a magical place that will let you live the peacefulness of the ancient times. Narrow alleys, houses made of stones… it looks like a medieval labyrinth!
Around Garda Trentino.
What about the places around Garda Trentino? Go for a walk near the “busa” and you will discover the stunning Museo delle Palafitte of Ledro to see how our ancestors used to live 4,000 years ago in Valle di Ledro (during the Bronze Age, they lived in stilt houses all around Lake Ledro). Go and visit this museum; if you are a history enthusiast, you will love it! Finally, around Garda Trentino there are two very important museums: Muse in Trento and Mart in Rovereto. The first, Muse – Science Museum, is a stimulating museum where the most advanced experiments in the field of new technologies and IT take place. An interesting and fascinating place for adults and children!
The latter, Mart in Rovereto, is one of the most important modern and contemporary art museum in Italy. The collection is great: Futurism, Metaphysics, Arte Povera, Conceptual Art and experimental art. Furthermore, every year they organize temporary themed exhibitions.
We told you. A holiday at Garda Trentino is more than a trip to the lake, a walk to the mountains or a tour by mountain bike. Here, everyone can plan his holiday as he wants because Garda Trentino is the place to be, always!
