Lonato del Garda

In the Lonato area the first evidence of human presence can be dated to the Mesolithic Age (10,000 years ago) but the most significant date back to the Bronze Age (second millennium BC) such as the Polada pile-dwelling settlement. In the 4th century BC Celtic tribes from central Europe settled here, while the Roman period is witnessed by the discovery of the remains of some important villas, near which in later times (11th and 12th centuries) churches were built such as the small church of S. Martino, the of S. Cipriano and the Parish Church of San Zeno, around which the first residential area of Lonato gathered. A city wall was built starting from 1376 on the orders of the Viscontis, whose dominion ended in 1404, when the town was handed over to the Gonzagas of Mantua who were taken over in 1441 by the Republic of Venice which expanded and equipped the castle with new defenses. The government of the Serenissima remained for over 350 years. In 1705, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the imperial army and the Franco-Spanish troops camped near the walls of Lonato. On 31 July 1796 the French army of General Napoleon Bonaparte and the Austrian troops clashed in Lonato in a bloody battle, which continued in Castiglione delle Stiviere. Sixty years later, on 24 June 1859, the Franco-Piedmontese formations clashed with the Austrian army in the famous Battle of San Martino and Solferino.
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