San Felice del Benaco

An important town in Roman times, San Felice retains the character of an agricultural town. It stands on the promontory which closes the gulf of Salò in the south. Facing the peninsula of San Fermo you can admire the Isola di Garda, which closes the gulf of San Felice in the north.Two plaques have remained from the Roman era, one of which is dedicated to Neptune and is found on the wall on the eastern side of the bell tower of the parish church.The castle, of which today there only remains a few ruins, was perhaps built on the ruins of a Roman fortress. Here in 1848 the volunteers, who with Manara attempted to take the fortress at Peschiera, sought refuge.Portese, a hamlet of San Felice del Benaco, is a lakeside town where there is a concentration of tourist and residential accomodation due to nearby Salò.Among the main buildings of historical and artistic interest in the neighbourhood, we should point out the Parish Church of Saints Felice and Adauto, which houses an altar piece by the Brescian painter Romanino in the apse, and also has an isolated bell tower from the Scaligero castle tower of which there remain only a few parts of the wall.Of notable interest also is the Santuario della Madonna del Carmine, built in 1452 in the late gothic style. On the extreme point of the promontory stands the little church of San Fermo from the XV century, built on the ruins of a large Roman villa.

Portese

Portese is a hamlet of San Felice del Benaco (Brescia), which can be reached by taking a circular route that skirts around the municipal seat to the east, and turning to the right enters Via San Fermo. The latter goes along a promontory that extends toward Isola di Garda. The name Portese comes from the Latin "portensis," to indicate the probable existence of a small port for fishermen. News of settlements date back to the Medieval age, and at the end of the 1400s, the area enjoyed discreet fame for its typographers, such as Bernardino Celeri, active in Venice, and Antonio Utelletto, known in Verona. The Chiesa di S. Giovanni Battista is worth a visit. It was built in the 1500s and restored at the end of the 1800s by Tagliaferri. The building contains paintings by various artists, such as Cossali, Cattaneo and Zadei.