Southern entrance, with drawbridges lowered, to the Castello Scaligero or Rocca Scaligera, at Sirmione on Lake Garda in Lombardy, Italy. Built in the 1300s and surrounded by a natural moat, the castle takes its name from the Della Scala family, ruling dynasty in Verona, who dominated the area at the time. It is one of the best-preserved Scaliger fortresses.
Sirmione, Lake Garda, Lombardy, Italy: southern entrance to the Rocca Scaligera, built in the 1300s by a Scaliger or della Scala Lord of Verona to defend the lake’s southern shores and provide his warships with a fortified haven. Castle drawbridges, usually made of wood, covered the castle moat and were raised in order to protect the castle from attack; when the drawbridge was raised, there was no way of accessing the castle easily. Early medieval drawbridges were raised and lowered by hand. Later drawbridges used mechanisms of pulleys and winches. Chains were connected to a windlass positioned above the gatehouse passage. The warlike Scaligeri dynasty ruled much of northern Italy, including the Venetian area, from 1259 to 1387. The Rocca Scaligera, built at the narrowest point of the Sirmio peninsula, is the best preserved of the three main fortresses that defended Scaliger territories on the eastern and southern sides of the lake. The Rocca’s importance as a defensive structure had declined by the 1500s in favour of the fortress at Peschiera del Garda. During periods of Napoleonic and Austrian domination, it was used as an armoury and barracks and it later housed municipal offices, a post office and a prison. A restoration programme starting in 1919 involved clearing the fortified harbour of many tonnes of debris, accumulated over the centuries, that had completely displaced the lake water. Sirmione, at the southern end of Lake Garda, is now a very popular tourist destination and the Rocca Scaligera is one of the top visitor attractions in the Italian Lake District.
Size: 1943px × 2904px
Location: Castello Scaligero or Rocca Scaligera, Sirmione, Lake Garda, Lombardy, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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