Gargnano ( Gardesano: ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia. With an ar ...

, in Lombardy. It is situated on the western shore of

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label= Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

. The municipal territory includes the artificial Valvestino Lake, created in 1962.

History

The name of the village appears for the first time in a document of 937 as Garniano, perhaps derived from the Latin stem ''Garenius''. Passages of the Roman historian

Titus Livius Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

and inscriptions on headstones testify to the presence of Etruscans, Celts,

Cenomani The Gaulish name Cenomani can refer to: * Aulerci Cenomani, an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling around modern Le Mans * Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul) The Cenomani (Greek: , Strabo, Ptol.; , Polyb.), was an ancient tribe of the Cisalpine Gauls, who ...

and Romans. From 1350 to 1426 the territory of Gargnano was a dominion of the

Visconti of Milan The Visconti of Milan are a noble Italian family. They rose to power in Milan during the Middle Ages where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes, and several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the ...

, later a dominion of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. In 1866 Gargnano was bombarded by the Austrian navy during the fighting on Lake Garda which formed part of the Third Italian War of Independence.

Notable residents

* Giovanni Beatrice, called Zanzanù, and Eliseo Baruffaldo, brigands of the 17th century *

Pietro Bellotto Pietro Bellotti (1625–1700) was an Italian painter active in the Baroque period. Life and Work Bellotti was born in Volciano di Salò in 1627 (1625 according to Orlandi), he gained fame as a painter of portraits and heads of characters. He was ...

, Baroque painter * Lorenzo Fiorini, Domenico Pattuccelli and Tommaso Chiaromonte, volunteers in the southern army of Giuseppe Garibaldi during the military campaign of 1860 * Alexander Bettoni Cazzago, soldier, partisan and horseman. Won the Siena Square dressage competition in 1942. As colonel of the Third Regiment of the Savoy Cavalry in 1942 he led charges in the Russian campaign that are among the last uses of cavalry in modern warfare. *

Erika Blanc Enrica Bianchi Colombatto (born 23 July 1942), usually known by her stagename of Erika Blanc, is an Italian actress. Career Her most notable role was as the first fictional character Emmanuelle in '' Io, Emmanuelle'' (1969). Blanc starred in se ...

, actress * Cesare Lievi, theatre director, poet and dramatist * Benito Mussolini, during the Italian Social Republic (the Republic of Saló) lived in the Villa delle Orsoline (Villa Feltrinelli) * D. H. Lawrence, novelist lived in Gargnano from 18 September 1912 to 30 March 1913 with Frieda Weekley von Richthofen *

Uto Ughi Bruto Diodato "Uto" Ughi (; born 21 January 1944) is an Italian violinist and conductor. He was the music director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia between 1987 and 1992. He is considered one of Italy's greatest living ...

, violinist * Oscar Ghiglia, guitarist * Giuseppe Maria Bernini, Capuchin friar and missionary

Sources

Cities and towns in Lombardy Populated places on Lake Garda {{Brescia-geo-stub