Vittoriale degli Italiani
The Vittoriale degli Italiani is a must for all visitors to Gardone Riviera. If only because an extraordinary interaction of different buildings characterises it.
One of the most famous Italian poets, Gabriele d'Annunzio (1863-1938), had the property in Gardone Riviera reconstructed in 1921 so that he could spend the last years of his life here. The complex includes various buildings, including a residential building, an open-air theatre and a military ship, the so-called Nave Puglia, which d'Annunzio had received from the navy in 1923.
Today, there is also the car of the writer, his unsinkable motorboat and the plane with which d'Annunzio had dropped leaflets over Vienna during the First World War.
While you can only visit the residential complex with a guide, visitors can move freely in the associated park. There, in a large mausoleum, are the remains of the writer. A war museum has been set up in his living quarters, showing various objects, some of which have previously been inaccessible, illuminating d'Annunzio's activities during the war.
A library was also founded in 1954 and opened to the public two years later. It contains around 8,000 book volumes, including works by the author himself, translations, reviews and essays by contemporaries. Another department is devoted to encyclopaedia and glossaries.