Malcesine Castle

Malcesine is certainly one of the most attractive and characteristic villages on Lake Garda, dominated by its ancient castle, the lake's bulwark on the shore in the province of Verona. Like all the towns on the lake it was a Roman domain, and in the barbarian era it armed itself with a fortified stronghold. It was first a Roman settlement, then was fortified at the time of the barbarian invasions. During Frankish rule, Pepin, king of the Franks, went to Malcesine to meet the hermits Benigno and Carlo, who had withdrawn into the countryside of Cassone, and stayed in the castle of Malcesine. The town became a free commune. In the 12th century it became a free commune, then passed to the Scaligeri, who rebuilt the castle in its current form and established the Captaincy of the Lake. It belonged to Venice, to the Italian Republic, and to Austria.

With the unification of Italy it shared the fate of all the towns of Lake Garda. In 1786 the poet Wolfgang Goethe stayed at Malcesine, leaving some drawings now kept in the Scaliger Museum. Malcesine has a population of 3,500 and includes the hamlets of Cassone and Navene.