Grotte di Catullo description and photos - Italy: Sirmione (Topic)

Grotte di Catullo description and photos - Italy: Sirmione. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Grotte di Catullo.

Photo and description

The Grotto of Catulla is one of the ancient attractions of the small resort town of Sirmione, located on the shores of Lake Garda. The grotto lies at the very tip of the Sirmione peninsula, which juts deep into the lake. In truth, the name of the Grotto of Catullus does not entirely correspond to reality - firstly, it is not a grotto at all, and secondly, the famous Roman poet Catullus never lived here. In reality, these are the ruins of an ancient Roman villa, which began to be called a grotto because of the collapsed and collapsed walls. Catullus lived long before this villa was built. For the sake of fairness, it should be said that in ancient times the Catullus family owned an estate on this territory - perhaps that is why the Roman poet and the villa were "tied" together.

Huge and impressive Villa Romana, occupying the tip of a picturesque promontory, it is a three-story structure erected in about 150 AD, while Catullus died in 54 BC. It has the shape of a rectangle with dimensions of 167 * 105 meters and a total area of 2 hectares. It was once a luxurious estate, the size and grandeur of which suggests that it was inhabited by a wealthy patrician family. The purpose of the premises of the villa is easy to guess even today: there were thermal baths, something like a spa complex, a covered gallery, a stable, two huge halls and a grand double hall with sixty columns. Villa Romana is probably the finest example of a private Roman villa found in Northern Italy.

Today, at the entrance to the Grotto of Catulla, a small museum is open, and the ruins themselves, surrounded by the waters of the lake and olive groves, can be viewed for a small fee. Tourists can wander among the ruins and admire archaeological finds, such as the charming carvings of rabbits, jewelry, antique coins, fragments of mosaics, frescoes and stucco that once covered the walls of the villa.

Just a few meters from the Grotto of Catulla, there is a private beach complex Lido delle Bonde, where you can have a snack in numerous cafes and restaurants, swim or just sunbathe on the purest sand or coastal rocks.

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Topic: Grotte di Catullo description and photos - Italy: Sirmione.