The Lonato medieval castle 'La Rocca' rises on a hill which dominates the southern part of Lake Garda and is one of the most impressive castles in all of Lombardy. Set inland, overlooking the ancient town of Lonato, the Rocca is an imposing structure nearly 180 meters long and 45 meters wide, complete with drawbridge!
Throughout the years and centuries, Lonato del Garda was ruled by various peoples and families who fought each other over the fortified town which had a strategically important defense tower. The fortress belonged to the counts of Montichiari, the Scaliger family, and in 1376 it was the Visconti who expanded the fortified walls to protect the entire town. Today, the medieval Rocca of Lonato houses the town’s ornithology museum, “Gustavo Carlotto”.
References:La Hougue Bie is a Neolithic ritual site which was in use around 3500 BC. Hougue is a Jèrriais/Norman language word meaning a \'mound\' and comes from the Old Norse word haugr. The site consists of 18.6m long passage chamber covered by a 12.2m high mound. The site was first excavated in 1925 by the Société Jersiaise. Fragments of twenty vase supports were found along with the scattered remains of at least eight individuals. Gravegoods, mostly pottery, were also present. At some time in the past, the site had evidently been entered and ransacked.
In Western Europe, it is one of the largest and best preserved passage graves and the most impressive and best preserved monument of Armorican Passage Grave group. Although they are termed \'passage graves\', they were ceremonial sites, whose function was more similar to churches or cathedrals, where burials were incidental.