Red flowers burst from a carved wooden balcony protruding from the colourful Casa or Casetta del Dazio, an early-18th century former Austrian toll house or customs post at the entrance to the harbour of the small Lake Garda port of Torbole sul Garda, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Torbole sul Garda, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: red geraniums decorating a carved wooden balcony contrast with the yellow ochre walls and green window shutters of the Casa or Casetta del Dazio, a former quayside Austrian customs post or toll house, and also with distant dwellings perched amid trees on the steep limestone slopes across Lake Garda. The much-photographed Casa del Dazio stands alone at the entrance to the harbour of this former frontier port near the northern tip of the lake. Torbole sul Garda was owned by Venice in the 15th century, but was later incorporated into the Austrian Empire. The customs house was built by Hapsburg Vienna in the early 18th century to deter smuggling and to levy duty or tolls on goods crossing the border. It lost its role after the 1914-18 First World War, when Torbole reverted to Italy, but more recently it has been carefully restored by its present owners, the Tonelli Hotels group. Torbole sul Garda, part of the Nago-Torbole comune or municipality, now thrives as an international water sports centre, with sailors, kiteboarders and windsurfers taking advantage of winds that blow at different times of day up and down the northern reaches of the lake. The Peler north wind starts blowing before dawn and continues until late morning, while the Ora south wind starts at noon and blows until early evening.
Size: 3051px × 2064px
Location: Torbole sul Garda, Lake Garda, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1700s, 18th, adige, austria, austrian, austro-italian, backdrop, balcony, balustrade, border, built, calm, carved, casa, casetta, century, comune, customs, , dazio, del, di, display, district, duty, early, empire, europe, european, floral, flowers, garda, geraniums, green, hapsburg, harbour, house, italian, italy, july, kerr, lago, lake, lakes, limestone, morning, nago-torbole, northern, ochre, peaceful, pier, placid, post, province, quay, quayside, red, rugged, shutters, smuggling, sul, summer, sunshine, terence, tollhouse, tolls, torbole, trentino, trentino-alto, trento, walls, waterfront, wharf, wooden, yellow
