Ponti sul Mincio

Ponti sul Mincio, in ancient times always referred to simply as Bridge (Pons), appears for the first time in documents in 1145 in a list of the plebian churches of the Diocese of Verona. An ancient stronghold dating back to the 12th century, the Castle of Ponti sul Mincio was built on the hills overlooking the Mincio river, in a strategic position. It was an important manor historically included in the system of Scala fortresses. The city walls are made of river pebbles, with gabled battlements and bank walkways. Along the walls, in positions almost equidistant from each other, are the defense towers: the smallest is now used as a clock tower, while the tallest, the keep, is located next to the ancient entrance gate to the village, guarded from a chamber ravel that a drawbridge once connected with the elevated road coming from the village. On 30 April 1945, the memorable battle that ended the Second World War was fought on Monte Casale, commemorated by a plaque to the fallen.

In reality the territory was inhabited by populations already in Roman times, as evidenced by some epigraphic discoveries in the area of the Scaligero Castle.
In the period between 1195 and 1275 the castle was built under the dominion of the Scaligeri family; the town began its expansion first around the nucleus of the castle and later in the area at the foot of the fortress, towards the Mincio river.
After the fall of the Scala family and a short period under the domination of the Visconti, Ponti was included in the territory of the Serenissima Republic of Venice (starting from 1405 and definitively from 1426, under the Doge Francesco Foscari). Venetian domination lasted until 1797, when, following the Napoleonic wars in Italy the year before (1796), the Cisalpine Republic was established (including the territories of Mantua, Brescia, Bergamo, Bologna, Ferrara, Massa, Carrara , Crema, Romagna and Valtellina); Ponti is aggregated to the VII district of Castiglione delle Siviere, included in the Mincio Department, under French rule.
In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna (and the Restoration), the territory of Mantua returned to the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; Ponti is included in the IV district of Volta, at the same time, after centuries, becoming part of the province of Mantua. After the Risorgimento wars and the battle of Solferino and San Martino (24 June 1859), Ponti passed under the province of Verona and in 1866 became part of the Kingdom of Italy, returning to the province of Mantua. With the beginning of the Italian state the town took on its current name of Ponti sul Mincio.
The last passage of a strictly administrative nature concerns the diocese, which, in 1977, after centuries, moved from Verona to Mantua, to standardize the municipal territories with the parish communities.
On 30 April 1945 in Ponti, and precisely in the Monte Casale area, one of the last battles of the struggle for liberation from Nazi-fascism took place, with a clash between partisan groups (aided by soldiers of the Italian regular army and Anglo-American troops) and German units fleeing towards the Alps.