To understand Garda and learn much about its past, one must visit the Territorial Museum of Lake Garda, a place where memory comes alive, indispensable for planning the future.
Small and hospitable, it consists of a layout that lets you touch the roots of the region.
The rooms display objects used until the first half of the 1950s in fishing, farming, carpentry and everyday life by the people of the riparian communities.
The mezzanine floor is dedicated to agriculture, animal husbandry, crafts and mining. Here we find tools, work implements and objects from the everyday life of the “people of the lake”, dating back almost a century.
On the upper floor, the focus shifts to the world of fishing, which has always been a symbol and pride of Garda. Matross (cylinders), tirlindane (wooden boxes), ancorette and turbet (fishing devices) are on display alongside huge fishing nets, tools that in the late 19th century enabled the catching of trout and the highly prized local carp.


The symbol of such a dense history is the Pal del Vò, which has been reconstructed in the museum with some original pieces. The pole was placed at the highest point of the underwater ridge connecting Punta San Vigilio and Sirmione by the Corporazione degli Antichi Originari di Garda (the fishing guild), which still boasts centuries-old fishing rights in the lake. The tin flag on its top indicates the holders of fishing rights, acquired in 1452 by the fishermen of Torri, Garda and Sirmione from the Costermano nobleman Andrea Becelli.
All the materials on display are donations from private individuals or found locally. They are unique pieces restored and described using the local dialect too, projecting the visitor into an era that seems remote, but of which younger generations should be not only curious, but aware and proud.
The museum is dedicated to Luigi Bertamè, the Garda scholar who dedicated his life to ethnographic research in his own town and whose work here is of incalculable value.
Address: Lungolago Regina Adelaide 15, Garda VR
Hours:
April – May
Friday 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Sunday 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
June – September
Friday 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Sunday 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
October – March
Friday 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sunday 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
