I was not very lucky that single day that I was in Monza. All the churches were closed, except for the Duomo and the rather uninteresting church of San Gerardo al Corpo. In the local tourist office, the employee on duty told me that the beautiful church of Santa Maria…
Although the Duomo of Monza is often called a cathedral, this is strictly speaking not correct. Monza is part of the archdiocese of Milan and therefore does not have its own bishop. On the other hand, the basilica of San Giovanni Battista, as the Duomo is officially called, does definitely…
It was a 30 minute drive from our holiday residence to the charming town of Desenzano del Garda, beautifully situated on the southwest side of Lake Garda. The town has about 27,000 inhabitants and offers a splendid view of Sirmione, the pearl of Lake Garda, which was built on a…
The picturesque town of Desenzano on the shores of Lake Garda once had an imposing Roman villa. Like all Roman villas, this villa was primarily an agricultural estate. The part where the buildings related to agricultural production must have stood has not been excavated. The residential part has, although the…
Just outside the small village of San Martino della Battaglia, a few kilometres south of Lake Garda, we find a remarkable monument from the nineteenth century. The monumental tower closely resembles a chess piece and honours the memory of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a united Italy, who…
Modern Solferino is a charming little town about ten kilometres south of Lake Garda. In this peaceful region of extensive vineyards that have sprung up around the town, it is hard to imagine that on 24 June 1859 one of the bloodiest battles in Italian history was fought here. On…