STAGE 2: From Riva del Garda to Nago
This is an easy stage, with only 12 kilometres separating Riva del Garda from the village of Nago, yet one steeped in history and surrounded by stories. Here we’ll tell you two of those stories: the first is most recent, dating to the Great War, traces of which can still be seen when exploring the forts of Monte Brione, the hill that separates Riva del Garda from Torbole. The second is a much older tale and takes us back to the 15th century, when the Republic of Venice at the height of its power.
It was 1438 and the La Serenissima, as the Republic was traditionally known, wanted to extend its borders to the west, but the fleet of the Duchy of Milan was manning Lake Garda unchallenged. So Venice had a visionary idea. The Republic sailed a fleet of 25 large boats, 2 galleys and 6 frigates from the mouth of the Adige River to the village of Mori, a stone's throw from Lake Garda. Separating the river from the mountains, however, was a seemingly insurmountable obstacle: the mountains themselves. Thus the Venetians accomplished a legendary feat. Harnessing the power of thousands of oxen and horses, building elaborate machinery and roads, clearing forests and houses, they managed to bring the galleys up the mountains, and then down to Lake Garda. This feat went down in history as Galeas per montes.
Now it is your time to cross the mountains, to leave Riva del Garda behind and reach Nago, for the next stage of the Path of Peace.
