The territory

Situated in a panoramic position towards the plain and Lake Garda, Solferino has a landscape characterized by soft reliefs which are rich in water in some depressions where layers of impervious soil have been deposited. In these places you can still find wetlands, ponds and small lakes. In the most depressed areas peat bogs are found, traces of the ancient intermorainic lakes.

The town is strongly linked to the memory of the battle of 24 June 1859, one of the most decisive episodes of the Italian Risorgimento. During the Second War of Independence Solferino and San Martino were in fact the scene of the bloody clash between the Piedmontese and French armies, on the one hand, and the Austrian army which emerged defeated, on the other. To remember those tragic events is the local monumental complex including the Museum, the Ossuary Chapel, the Fortress and the Red Cross Memorial.

Certainly one of the most beautiful hillside squares is the area on which the ancient castle stood, built in the Middle Ages and substantially modified by Prince Orazio Gonzaga in the 16th century, who transformed it into his residence. It has a rectangular plan and is partly still surrounded by the ancient walls and in some sections delimited by a curtain of houses. Events of important cultural importance are held in Piazza Castello every year.

The town is also renowned for the DOC wine of the moraine hills and its cuisine, of which the Capunsèl di Solferino (a tasty bread dumpling, served as the first course) is the main dish.