Manerba Fortress
Manerba Fortress, ones place of one the important castles of Lake Garda
Manerba Fortress; the site has been inhabited since prehistoric times and later a fortress was built. In 773 d.C. Charlemagne, head of the Franks, landed in Italy and defeated the Longobards, but Cacone, the nephew of King Desiderio and brother of Ansoaldo and Patone, with many Benacens, are valiantly defeated by forbidding for two years the longobard insignia before surrendering to the Franks, guided First from the received Ismondo. Until in 776 they were forced to surrender to Marcario, Duke of Friuli, who honored the heroic ranks, in Italy, all to lower the king’s banner. Centuries later, during the furious Brescia dispute between the Valvassori headed by Ardiccio degli Aimoni and the Arimanni of the Bishop of Brescia Arimanno, which will end with the peace of 1106, a certain Leutelmonte had settled in the Rocca di Manerba. This was a “valiant man, but of broken customs”, a native of Esine in Valcamonica; After having taken possession and settling the old castle, he wandered across Valtenesi with a bunch of malfatters and assassins; He asked for help and protection from the sisters Calveria and Guercina Federici, a noble Brescia family who, after killing their father, tried to conquer the government of Brescia. After a first victory over the Brescia army in 1109 in the Battle of Puegnago, Leutelmonte always died in a clash against Brescia. In the following centuries the Manerba rocket was still a refuge for bandits, until the Venetian Predictor Mario Soranzone ordered the destruction in 1787.
Now the Visitor Center, at the entrance to the Rocca Naturalistic Archaeological Park, is home to the Archaeological Civic Museum of Valtenesi. The main themes of the museum are the archaeological and natural aspects of this area; The route begins with the first settlements of the mesolithic (800-500 BC) to end in the 16th century; Besides the exhibition area, the museum offers educational workshops and guided tours of the park. From the top of the fortress you can enjoy a splendid view of the lower Garda, the island of rabbits and the island of Garda.
