The long and narrow strip of land extending out into the Lake Garda between Desenzano and Peschiera has an enchanting charme. Sirmione is a particularly characteristic town, which reflected itself in the water of Lake Garda.It is a well-balanced union between modern and ancient beauty. This beautiful peninsula is also the home of precious thermal waters, that have been well known since the antiquity. The thermal baths in Sirmione consist of 5 sites where you can have thermal cures.
The history of the thermal baths of Sirmione began at the times of the Romans, who used to visit them during the 1st century a.C.
The rediscovery of their thermal properties however, is recently dated and precisly in 1889, when Procopio a venetian sea diver, equipped with a diving suit and special pumps supplied from England, dived to a depth of 20 metres into lake.
He was the first who reached, in the area around Catullo villa, a hot water spring which had been known to exist for three centuries.
After several attempts he succeeded in planting a long pipe into the rock face. From it a jet of sulphurous water gushed out to a height of over 5 metres above the surface of the lake. It was a great achievement and the press reported the importance of it throughout Italy.
The origin of thermal waters of Sirmione is meteoric, it springs about 30 miles away, in the watershed basin of Mount Baldo in Veneto at 2200 meters above sea level, going 2100 meters below sea level where it is enriched with minerals becoming hot.