Moniga del Garda

Moniga is a pleasant looking village with olive groves and the magic of the lake. Built on a ridge, the ancient part of the village is above the modern part which stretches past olive groves towards the lake and a beautiful harbour.
Moniga has a number of hotels, camp sites and tourist facilities.

The strange name is thought to derive from the goddess Diana Muchina, whose sanctuary is located here, according to mythology. The area was settled in the Bronze age (1800-200 B.C.) as shown by numerous remains of a village built on stilts. In Roman times Moniga included the via Gallica, the main road from Brescia to Verona. A road connected Moniga to Chizzoline and then Carzago, Bedizzole and Brescia. In 886 Moniga was donated by Charlemagne to the monks of San Zenone and became the feudal territory of Ugone da Poncarale in the second half of the twelfth century; in 1196, after wars between Brescia and Bergamo, it was donated by Arrigo VI to the Abbey of Leno.
Between 1427 and 1797 Moniga, like all the other villages in Valtenesi and Lake Garda, became part of the Venetian Republic. Under the provisional government in Brescia (1797), Moniga was annexed to Cantone dei Colli, the largest village in Lonato.
After Napoleon it became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until the victorious Risorgimento battles of S. Martino and Solferino. From 1928 to 1947, Moniga was part of Padenghe.

The community grows vines for Chiaretto, invented in Moniga by Senator Pompeo Molmenti. In order to promote this wine, elsewhere called “wine flower” because it is made from the first pressing of the grapes, the Castellani del Chiaretto Confraternity was created some years ago. Every July it organizes wine tasting events. Recently Moniga became part of the National Association called “Città del Vino” (Wine Cities) based in Siena, and the Enoteca Italica promoting wine, its culture and traditions.