Grottoes of Catullus

About this place

Grottoes of Catullus is the name given to the ruins of a Roman villa built between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD at the northernmost end of the Sirmione peninsula on the southern shore of Lake Garda. The archaeological complex, which always remained uncovered over time, has been the subject of academic research since the 15th century. Today, it is the most valuable testament of the Roman period in Sirmione's territory and an exceptional find of a Roman villa in northern Italy. The site, which includes the archaeological museum of Sirmione, was the twenty-seventh most visited Italian site in 2013, with 215,961 visitors and a total gross income of €504,700. Notice how the building presents itself to the surrounding streets or landscape, then compare its public and more intimate spaces. This helps explain how architecture expressed the position, resources and ambitions of the people who commissioned it.