Overview
It was a good idea to position a fortification practically in the middle of the water: it would be much more difficult for any enemies to besiege it, let alone conquer it. Today, the fortress has a fairly peaceful appearance, but it did not have to look like this in the centuries after the year 1000, or even in the 13th and 14th centuries when it had reached the top of Lake Garda the ruling of the Scaligeri, i.e. the Veronese dynasty of della Scala. The remaining dungeon from those times has not been plastered like the rest, and one can try to imagine the warlike appearance the whole must have had before the Austrian imperialists demolished the highest parts of the towers at the corners in the 19th century, only to turn the old castle into a more orderly barracks.
The gradual reduction to a civilised purpose now appears complete when visiting the interior of the Upper Garda Museum, also known simply as MAG. There is an art gallery that covers the period from the 15th to the 19th century exhibiting local or Trentino artists and views by painters who were fascinated by the Garda landscapes, but above all there is an archaeological collection, that goes back much further in time than the fortress itself: Copper Age statue-stelae, ancient Roman artefacts, traces of the early Middle Ages. Some frescoes discovered during restoration work show that the prince-bishops of Trento were also responsible for embellishing the building in the 16th century.
It is in any case also a municipal museum: visitors should not miss out on documentation on the slightly less ancient history of Riva and Basso Sarca, the river that descends from the Adamello mountain range and forms the Lake. There is also talk of Riva's great tourist fortunes, at least since the days of Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka. After all, the serenity of the place can be contemplated from the top of the dungeon.
