GARDA, Lake of, the Italian Lago di Garda and ancient Benacus, the largest and most eastern of the great lakes of northern Italy. It is enclosed by Alpine ridges on both sides, except towards the south, where it widens out into the Lombard plain. The northern extremity belongs to the Austrian district of Tyrol, while the remainder is divided between the two old Italian provinces of Venetia and Lombardy. The length of the lake is about 38 miles; its width varies from 2 or 3 miles in the north to 11 or 12 in the south; and its area is estimated at 135 square miles. The ordinary elevation of the surface above the level of the sea is 320 feet, but this is increased by 3 or 5 feet by the melting of the Alpine snow3 at the beginning of summer. The greatest depths are about 900 or 1000 feet. At the northern extremity it receives the waters of the Sarca, a comparatively small Tyrolese stream, and at the south-eastern corner, at Peschiera, its surplus is conveyed by the Mincio to the Po. Navigation on the one hand is frequently rendered dangerous by sudden bursts of storm, while on the other hand it is facilitated by the two regular winds called the Ora or Andar and the Sover, of which the former blows from the south from midday to midnight, and the latter from the north from midnight to midday. Especially in its southern quarters, the lake is very rich in fish, the more important species being the salmon-trout, the carpione (Salmo punctatus), the trout, the sardina (Alausa vulgans), the eel, and the arvole. The principal towns and villages along the Riviera or western side of the lake are—Desenzano, in the south; Salo, w⅛h 4500 inhabitants; Maderno, with 1500 inhabitants; Tos-colano, with 2000, famous for its paper-mills, introduced in 1386; Gargnano, with 4000; Limone; and ...Riva, at the northern extremity, with about 6000. Proceeding south along the eastern side we find Torbole, Malcesine, Torri, Garda, which gives its name to the lake, Lacize, and Peschiera. Desenzano and Torri are the chief seats of the fish trade. Steamers ply regularly from Desenzano to Riva, and from Riva to Peschiera. The scenery of the Garda is not so fine as that of the Lake of Como, but it is remarkable for the luxuriance of the vegetation, especially on the beautiful promontory of Sirmione, which projects from the southern shore, and still contains the ruins of the villa once inhabited by Catullus. The lemon ripens its fruit at several places round the lake, though the trees require to be carefully covered, and even artificially warmed, during the frosts. The whole number is estimated at about 18,000, and each may produce about 1000 lemons.
The lake was well known to the Romans as Benacus lΑhνακοs), and its storms are described by Virgil in the familiar line—
il Fluctibus et fremitu assurgens, Benace, marino." In several ancient inscriptions the name Benacenses occurs; and some antiquaries on no more authority have supposed that there must have been a town of its own name on the lake. According to a not improbable hypothesis there was formerly a navigable channel from the Adriatic to the Benacus; and we know from inscribed stones preserved in the Museo Filarmonico of Peschiera (the ancient Ardclica) that a rich corporation of shipowners existed^ in the town {Collegium naviculariorum Ardelicensium). If such a pissage to the sea was available in the later Roman period, it must at least have disappeared before the end of the 15th century; for when in 1438 the Venetians wished to bring their vessels from the Adige to the lake they conveyed them overland from the neighbourhood of Mori to Torbole. This Herculean undertaking was proposed by Blasio de Arboribus and Nicolo Sorbolo, and it was successfully accomplished at a cost of 15,000 ducats. As early as 1827 a steamboat of 28 horse-power, the “Arciduca Ranieri,” was launched on the lake at Desenzano by a Milan company; and in 1834 it was superseded by another of 18 horse-power. In 1830 Francesco Montagni of Riva built a boat, the “Manubrio,” the machinery of which was moved by 8 horses going round and round on the deck; but in 1839 he gave it up as unprofitable. In 1873 there were four steamboats on the lake in tho service of the railway company of Upper Italy, besides thirty-one vessels with a total tonnage of about 400 tons, and about 500 fishing boats. The Italian Government also maintained four gunboats at Peschiera.
See Dal Pozzo, Lago, Forlczza, e Rocca di Garda e Gardcsana, Verona, 1678; Volta Serafino, Dcscriztone del Lago di Garda, Mantua, 1828; Ercolani, Guida al Lago di Garda, Milan, 1846; Bignami, Il Lago di Garda, Milan, 1873.
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