The Roman villa at the tip of the peninsula
Sirmione stretches on a narrow peninsula about four kilometres long into the southern part of Lake Garda, and is one of the most visited places on the lake. The Latin poet Catullus, who had a house here in the first century BC, called it "the jewel of all peninsulas and islands".
At the tip of the peninsula, among olive groves, lie the ruins of the largest Roman villa in northern Italy, known as the Grotte di Catullo: the name comes from the Renaissance visitors who, seeing the collapsed vaults covered with vegetation, thought they were caves. The villa, built between the end of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD, covered about two hectares on several levels, with porticoes, terraces and a long covered walkway with views over the lake. A small museum displays frescoes and finds. Sirmione is also known for its spa: the Boiola spring gushes hot sulphurous water at about 70 degrees from the bottom of the lake, used in the town's thermal baths. Near the tip, the Jamaica beach has smooth limestone slabs that slope into the clear water.
Tip: the old town is closed to traffic and very crowded in summer; arrive by boat from other lake towns or early in the morning.
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