There are many places where the guests of the "Limonaia" residential hotel can gain knowledge of Garda's history and culture.
Entering Gargnano from the south end, Villa Bettoni characterizes the hamlet of Bogliaco. The building establishes an example of exceptional architectonic severity, reflection of the learned Lombard aristocracy in the 1700s. Built at the start of the 1700s by the architect Adriano Cristofori, the villa was commissioned by Giandomenico Bettoni.
The main body of the building -beyond the road- meets the spectacular Italian-style garden, distinguished by a large exedra, a nymphaeum and flowerbeds. Towards the back of the garden, one can find several lemon groves and the park.
The Sarcophagus of Argilo da Gargnano (1302), in red Veronese porphyry, is located at the entrance of the district's main town.
The simple structure rests on four small columns and is flanked by the ominous fragment of an arcosolio, with a sepulchral inscription in Latin: This monument is the dominion of Argilo di Gargnano and his heirs.
The sixteenth century Palazzo Comunale (today the headquarters of the Municipal Councils) looks out over the small harbour of Gargnano a short way from the residential hotel. It was designed by Giovanni Traffegnini, inspired by the style of the Todeschini.
Palazzo Feltrinelli, (1898- 1899) built as the private residence of Giuseppe Feltrinelli, dominates Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
The building has assumed importance from a historic point of view, following its use during the era of the Italian Social Republic (1943-1945). On a par with other Gargnanese and Gardesane buildings, it was requisitioned by the fascist government which turned the Palazzo into the general headquarters of Benito Mussolini, equipping it with Italian and German surveillance.
The Palazzo today houses the branch headquarters of Milan's University of Studies. Used as a conference centre at international level, in the Summer it hosts Italian language courses for students from throughout the world.
It was built between 1892 and 1899, with its design attributed by some to Francesco Solmi and, by others, to Alberico Belgiojoso. Enclosed within a magnificent park, it is surrounded by a number of industrial outbuildings which, in the past, were used as the residence of the keepers and the peasants, who looked after the stables and the lemon groves.
The most ostentatious part of the villa is represented by the side facing the lake, while the park behind the building includes precious essential oil trees.
Between October 1943 and April 1945, Villa Feltrinelli was the residence of Benito Mussolini, who resided there with his family. A short distance away, distributed between Gargnano, Toscolano Maderno and Salò, a number of Ministries of the Social Republic were originally based.