| Grottoes of Catullus | |
 | |
| State | Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Lombardy |
| Territory | Bresciano |
| Surface | 2 ha |
| Institutional website | |
Grottoes of Catullus is an archaeological site of the Lombardy.
To know
It is today the most important testimony of the Roman period in the territory of Sirmione and is the most impressive example of a Roman villa present in theNorthern Italy.
In 2013, the complex of the Grotte di Catullo and the archaeological museum of Sirmione were the twenty-seventh most visited Italian state site, with 215,961 visitors.
When to go
Opening time
WINTER PERIOD (starting from 25 October 2015) Weekdays: 8.30-17.00 (archaeological area); 8.30-19.30 (Museum) Sundays and holidays: 8.30-14.00
SUMMER PERIOD Weekdays: 8.30-19.30 Sundays and holidays: 9.30-18.30
CLOSING DAYS: non-holiday Tuesdays (in the event that a holiday falls on a Tuesday, the weekly rest day is postponed to the following Wednesday). The archaeological site is also closed on the following days: 1st January, 1st May and 25th December.
Background
The large villa, under which structures from the 1st century BC were found, was built at the beginning of the 1st century AD. The villa must have been in a state of neglect as early as the third century AD. when part of its architectural decoration was reused in the other Roman villa in Sirmione, that of Via Antiche Mura. Between the 4th and 5th centuries the imposing surviving structures of the villa were included in the fortifications that enclosed the Sirmione peninsula and burials were built inside the remains of the Roman building. Over the centuries, as mentioned, various chroniclers and travelers visited the ruins, but the first concrete studies on them were carried out only in 1801 by General La Combe St. Michel, commander of the artillery of Napoleon Bonaparte's army. Subsequently, the Veronese count Giovanni Girolamo Orti Manara carried out excavations and surveys, still fundamental today, which he published in 1856. In 1939 the Superintendence for archaeological heritage started an extensive program of excavations and restorations, finally acquiring the entire area in 1948 to allow adequate protection of the complex, immersed in its natural environment. During the nineties of the twentieth century, further studies confirmed that the construction was carried out through a unitary project, which defined the orientation and distribution of the interior spaces according to a precise criterion of axiality and symmetry.
How to get
Grotte di Catullo: full screen map.
By plane
- 1 Verona-Villafranca Airport (Valerio Catullo), Boxes of Sommacampagna (VR), ☎ 39 045 8095666, fax: 39 045 8619074.
- 2 Brescia-Montichiari Airport (Gabriele D'Annunzio), Via Aeroporto, 34, Montichiari (BS), ☎ 39 030 9656599, fax: 39 030 9656514. Charter only.
- 3 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (the Caravaggio), Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ 39 035 326323. From this airport there are many low cost flights operated by the Irish airline Ryanair.
By car
- A4 motorway (Turin-Trieste). Sirmione toll booth.
 | ATTENTION: The medieval center of Sirmione is accessible by car only to residents and hotel guests with parking passes. |
- 4 Port of Sirmione, Piazza Carducci, ☎ 39 030 9149511, fax: 39 030 9149520, @[email protected].
Timetables. Connection with the main ports of Lake Garda.
On the train
- 5 Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione station (Desenzano station), Piazza Einaudi, Desenzano del Garda. Served by Frecciabianca for Milano Centrale, Torino Porta Susa, Trieste Centrale and Venice Santa Lucia, by Frecciarossa for Brescia and Roma Termini and by regional for Milano Centrale and Verona Porta Nuova.
By bus
- Transport Brescia North and Brescia South, Via Cassala 3 / a - 25126 Brescia, ☎ 39 030 44061, fax: 39 030 3754505, @[email protected].
- Line LN026Brescia-Verona.
- Line LN008Carpenedolo-Sirmione.
- APAM, Via dei Toscani, 3 / c - 46100 Mantua, ☎ 39 0376 2301, fax: 39 0376 230330, @[email protected].
- Line 7BCastiglione delle Stiviere-Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione
Permits / Rates
The entrance ticket costs € 8, reduced to € 4 for young people aged 18 to 25 and free for minors.
How to get around
By taxi
- Sirmione taxi, ☎ 39 030 916082.
By car
Parking lots
- 6 Piazzale Monte Baldo parking, ☎ 39 030 916539.
Parking rates. Parking areas for campers
What see
- 1 Roman villa. The villa has a rectangular plan, measuring 167 x 105 meters, with two foreparts on the short north and south sides. To overcome the inclination of the rocky bank on which the building was built, large support works (substructures) were created in the northern part. The main floor, corresponding to the owner's living quarters, is the most damaged, both because it was the most exposed and because the villa, after its abandonment, was a quarry for materials for centuries. The intermediate and lower floors are best preserved. The main entrance to the building was located in the southern forepart. The villa was characterized by long arcades and terraces open to the lake along the east and west sides, communicating to the north with a large belvedere terrace, equipped with velarium. Along the western side, today it is possible to visit the cryptoporticus, a long walk that was once covered. The residential parts of the building were located in the north and south, while the central part, today constituted by the Big Olive grove, was occupied by an extensive garden. On the southern side, under a floor in opus spicatum, there is a large cistern almost 43 meters long, which collected the water needed for daily use. The large thermal sector of the villa, consisting of several rooms located in the south-western area, including the so-called swimming pool, was probably created at the beginning of the 2nd century. The various rooms of the villa have suggestive conventional names, derived from a consolidated local tradition or from interpretations and names given during the first excavations. Among the ruins, for example, you can find the three-pillar hall, the long corridor, the Trifora del Paradiso, the Grande Pilone, the Grotta del Cavallo, the Big Oliveto mentioned above and the Aula dei Giganti.
- 2 Archaeological Museum. In 1999, the Archaeological Museum was inaugurated inside the park that houses the remains of the villa. It houses numerous finds from the excavations of the Roman villa of the "Grotte di Catullo", from other Roman villas located on Lake Garda (villa in via Antiche Mura in Sirmione and villa di Toscolano) and from other archaeological sites in the area. The Archaeological Museum is organized in several sections. In the entrance portico the genesis and morphology of Lake Garda are explained; in addition, the different communication routes in the area in ancient times are illustrated. Inside the Archaeological Museum there are three other sections: 1.la prehistory and protohistory of Lake Garda, with the finds from the stilts found on the shores of the lake; 2.theRoman age, inside which are also exhibited the finds from the "Grotte di Catullo"; 3.themedieval age, with the funerary objects of the church of S. Pietro in Mavino in Sirmione and other adjacent locations. The Archaeological Museum houses a model that reproduces the Roman villa and a touch-screen monitor with films in three languages on the Grottoes of Catullus and other sites on Lake Garda.
What to do
Shopping
Where to eat
Refer to the facilities of Sirmione.
Where stay
Refer to the facilities of Sirmione.
Safety
How to keep in touch
Around
Excursions
- Riva del Garda - Elegant center at the north end of Lake Garda, it maintains the atmosphere of a holiday resort of the Austro-Hungarian nobility of the nineteenth century.
- Salò - The coastal center is home to supra-municipal administrative offices and is considered the capital of the Lombard shore of the lake. It was the capital, not only of Garda, in the final period of the Second World War, when the city was involved in spite of itself in events much bigger than it.
- Gardone Riviera - Small stately town, it enjoys considerable fame in the wake of the legend that was the man and poet D'Annunzio; its Vittoriale is the destination of a very large tourism.
- Toscolano Maderno - The two centers of Toscolano and Maderno form a conurbation that occupies a shell-shaped promontory. Both centers have a beautiful lakefront, more developed that of Maderno which is touristically more lively than Toscolano, with which it forms a single administrative entity. Toscolano is the Roman Benacum which gave the ancient name to Lake Benaco
- Limone sul Garda - Squeezed between the lake and the high rocky walls behind it, Limone enjoys a particularly mild climate that allows the cultivation of olive trees, lemons and cedars not only on the shores of the lake but also on the mountain, so much so that it has been supernamed Portofino del Garda.
- Malcesine - The Scaligeri fortified it with a castle high above the town; in the historic center the Palazzo dei Capitani. A cable car leads up to the Spino stretch, a winter station at 1780 meters above sea level on Mount Baldo.
- Desenzano del Garda - The most populous city of the whole lake (Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino) has received a great boost from tourism, focusing above all on young people who find numerous pubs, discos and sports centers there. Its tourist port is well developed, receiving the embrace of the historic center strongly characterized by the imprint given to it by the long rule of the Republic of Venice.
- Sirmione - The Grottoes of Catullus - remains of an immense Roman villa in a panoramic position on the tip of its promontory -, the majestic and elegant Scaliger Castle which fortifies the town's marina and the thermal baths make it one of the most popular destinations around the lake.
- Verona
Itineraries
- Morainic hills of Lake Garda - On the first corrugations of the Po plain that becomes a hill, where the great lake basin of the Lake Garda, the route touches towns and cities that were the domain of Gonzaga, Venice, Scaligero, and then became the scene of the bloody battles of the Risorgimento that were the prelude to the unification of Italy. To the tourist, historical and naturalistic importance the area combines an oenological interest as an area of production of wines from the hills, tokai, merlot and claret.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Grottoes of Catullus
Commons contains images or other files on Grottoes of Catullus
