Holidays in Gargnano at Lake Garda, Italy

San Francesco
The monastery and church of San Francesco in Gargnano were founded in 1289, what still remains preserved in its original state today is the cloister, a little jewel from the Romanesque and late Gothic periods. One exquisite detail: the capitals of the graceful columns are decorated with oranges and lemons.

Villa Bettoni- Cazzago
When the Gardesana Occidentale – the road running along the western shore – was first built, scant regard was paid to cultural monuments: the work was a homage to the forces of progress. And so the road builders were quite merciless in cutting through one of the most beautiful Baroque gardens by the lake. Nonetheless, the result enables today’s holidaymaker to cast a look into the park of the Villa Bettoni- Cazzago in the district of Bogliaco. The villa itself is privately owned; seen from the lake, the beautiful façade with its life-size sculptures on the central wing is most striking. At the end of the 18th century Conte Carlo Bettoni-Cazzago had the idea of building hothouses for growing lemons, like the orangeries in France. In 1768 he founded an agricultural academy in Salò which was dedicated to the study of lemon growing.