Isola del Garda opens for guided visits with historical tours and scenic views
The day before yesterday, a group of hoteliers (led by the president of Riviera dei Limoni, Chicco Risatti, along with his right-hand man Sergio Bassetti, Orietta Papini Mizzaro, and the tourism councilor of Toscolano Maderno, Fabio Cauzzi) disembarked at Isola del Garda. This small expedition opened the way for excursions scheduled to begin next week after the summer season (costing 45,000 euros transportation included). Guests from hotels and guesthouses around Lake Garda’s mid-to-high end can visit the island on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A speedboat from Danieli of Barbarano departs at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Salò, picking up passengers also at Gardone and Toscolano Maderno. On that piece of land (65,000 square meters), located opposite Punta Grosti and Baia del Vento, visitors will be greeted by Alberta Cavazza and two guides (one speaking German, the other English). A quick look at the acanthus, a Greek plant whose flowers will wither in a month, and at the stunning centuries-old trees (Canary palms, lemons, figs, olive trees, pomegranates, orange trees, grapefruits, prickly pears, jujubes, Chinese roses, capers, bougainvillea, yellow roses, dahlias, irises, evergreen oaks, Lebanon and Himalayan cedars, cypresses, gigantic laurels, laurel, magnolias, oaks, poplars, plane trees, firs, pines, oleanders). The walk along the path, climbing the staircase, feelings of regret over the sandstone balustrade crumbling from the west-northwest wind (Vinessa) blowing directly from the Manerba rock, landscaping works authorized by the Superintendence after years of delays, a visit to some rooms including the music room, a drink on the balcony next to the cart used for the grape harvest, and beneath the bell rung to signal dinner time. After Camillo Cavazza, the count-farmer, died, his English wife Charlotte Talbot Chetwynd, along with their seven children (four boys and three girls), diversified their activities. Their eldest son, Sigmar, age 35, manages two campgrounds. The youngest (21) studies Economics and Commerce. Alberta, after dedicating herself to dressage, left her mother to run riding courses for children at the S. Fermo grounds, and now welcomes tourists eager to experience the enchanted atmosphere of Garda Island. The island has hosted Saint Francis of Assisi (who built one of the first hermitages there), Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Bernardino of Siena, Dante Alighieri, Cosimo de’ Medici, and many other famous figures. Among them, General Dwight Eisenhower, who later became President of the United States. The Genoese duke Gaetano De Ferrari, remembered in Risorgimento history for partially financing the Mille expedition, purchased the island in 1869 from the Bergamasque baron Raffaele Scotti. Together with his wife, Anna Maria Annenkoff, daughter of the former Russian Emperor, the duke decided to build the current grand palace in Gothic-Venetian style, designed by architect Luigi Rovelli and constructed between 1900 and 1902. “With its ogival, trilobed monofore windows, columns, tower, loggia, and white pinnacles, it looks like a gigantic embroidery, playing with sunlight,” states researcher Pierluigi Mazzoldi. The island was inherited by the only daughter, born in 1874 and sharing her mother’s name, who married Scipione Borghese, Prince of Sulmona, in 1895. He is remembered for a series of legendary exploits: expeditions, climbs, and notably the 1907 Beijing-Paris raid covering 16,000 kilometers in an “Itala” car, accompanied by journalist Luigi Barzini and mechanic Ettore Guizzardi. During October 1917, amidst the revolution, Princess Anna Maria hosted 18 young Armenians, both male and female, and arranged for their education. During the World War I period (1915-1918), she served as a nurse helping wounded soldiers hospitalized in Salò. She was unafraid even of the Spanish flu, earning a silver medal for civil valor for her charitable efforts. She financially supported fighters and veterans and left her inheritance of the Portese orphanage to the municipality. In November 1924, at age 50, she died in the lake while planting trees. Her mother, Annenkoff, had passed away just a few months earlier. One of the Borghese daughters, Livia, married the Bolognese count Alessandro Cavazza. They had three children: Paolo Emilio, Novello, and Camillo.
