Custoza Tour Guide

In the south-eastern inland area of Lake Garda there is Custoza, the town of the white wine bearing the same name and of the beautiful landscape of the morainic hills, but which also recalls bloody battles for the unification of Italy fought between the Hapsburg and Piedmontese armies: on July 25, 1848 during the first war of Independence, and on June 24, 1866 during the third war of Independence.

A guided tour in Custoza, starting from the monument and the Ossuary, is ideal for school groups that are dealing with the Risorgimento (Italian independence movement) and for history lovers. The territory of Custoza also allows you to immerse yourself in nature, walking or cycling. In the cellars of the area you can taste the white wine of Custoza and in the many restaurants and farmhouses you can enjoy the local cuisine.
Let a tourist guide of Custoza accompany you in this adventure.

Memorial and Charnel House

The symbol of Custoza is the Memorial. It was built by the architect Giacomo Franco to collect the bones of the fallen soldiers of both armies, the Austrian and the Italian. The battles of the first and third War of Independence were fought on the hills around Custoza in 1848 - 1866.

The peasants of the area often found skeletons of soldiers fallen in battle and never returned to their loved ones. The human pity and the respect due to those who had fought for their country, pushed the population of Verona to build a sacrarium. The point chosen was Mount Belvedere, the highest spot in the area. The memorial was built with the economic participation of Austria, and inaugurated on June 24, 1879. In the upper part of the memorial there is a small museum that collects relics and equipment of the troops engaged in the battles.

In the underground part rest thousands of bones and skulls of the fallen of the battles, many without name. Although the first impression might be one of repulsion, this interminable sequence of human remains actually inspires thoughtfulness and reflection.

For a route on the traces of the Risorgimento, from Custoza you can easily reach Villafranca (site of the signing of the famous armistice), San Martino, Solferino.

Custoza White Wine (Bianco di Custoza)

All around Mount Belvedere the view sweeps on endless expanses of vineyards. This is the territory of Custoza white wine which is produced with a blend of grapes in which stand out Trebbiano, Garganega, Trebbianello, Bianca Fernanda. It is a dry and pleasing wine which is getting more and more appreciated for its elegance and crispness. Slightly bitter, with vinous aromas, fruity and floral notes and a persistent aftertaste, it is an ideal wine with fish dishes, to be drunk young and chilled.

An itinerary in Custoza can include a visit with tasting in one of the many wineries surrounded by the green of the morainic hills.

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The Morainic Hills

Custoza is located in the heart of the morainic hills area. These gentle hills were formed during the ice ages. Over the course of tens of thousands of years, an immense glacier, up to a thousand meters thick, covered the area where Lake Garda is today. In its continuous and slow slide from north to south, it dug the basin that filled with water at the end of the glaciation. The debris that was moved in this movement of millennia accumulated in a series of successive curtains all around the front of the glacier forming a series of hills in concentric arcs, the so-called morainic amphitheater of Garda. Covered with vegetation, crops and dotted with cypress trees, are a true spectacle of landscape. There are numerous nature trails for lovers of trekking, cycling, and there are also some equipped golf courses for fans of this sport.