Trimelon
| Trimelon | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Garda lake | |
| Geographical location | 45 ° 43 '51 " N , 10 ° 46' 35" E | |
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| length | 273 m | |
| width | 55 m | |
| surface | 0.6 ha | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
The Isola di Trimelone is the third largest island in Lake Garda and a restricted area .
geography
The uninhabited island is 273 meters long and up to 55 meters wide; it has an area of around 6,000 square meters. It is around 330 meters from the town of Assenza , which belongs to the municipality of Brenzone (Comune di Brenzone).
history
According to a legend, the Isola di Trimelone is the link between two brothers transformed into underwater reefs who wanted to be connected in death.
For the migration of peoples were farmers and fishermen refuge on the island. In the 10th century, at the time of the Hungarian invasion, the coastal inhabitants fortified Trimelon. They built some kind of fortress on the island; this was destroyed by the troops of Frederick I (Barbarossa) in 1158 and then rebuilt by the Scaligians . Hardly anything of it can be seen today.
Before the First World War , the island was fortified by the Italian army and a battery position with three ship guns Mod. 120/40 was set up. The facility was subordinate to the Peschiera fortress section belonging to the Verona fortress command. The border then crossed the lake north of Navene . During the First World War, Riva del Garda , which then belonged to Austria-Hungary , was bombed from here. Remains of the battery position can still be seen today.
In 1930 the Angelo Cassaloni company received a special permit to clear the arsenal from the First World War. In the Second World War was Mussolini on the island and had on 20 March 1945 about forty days before his assassination on Lake Como , a heated argument with the journalist and painter Ivanoe Fossani.
After the Second World War, the evacuation of the island began again. On October 5, 1954, shortly before midnight, the residents of Brenzone were awakened by a violent explosion: Several tons of the explosive material that had been sorted and stacked by workers of the clearing company up to that point were blown up. The explosive devices stored on the island were thrown into the lake by the three days of explosions. Since then, plans have been made to clear the mines, but this has repeatedly failed because of the necessary money. Even years after the big explosion, there were always detonations from mines that exploded by themselves. The island was left to its own devices and it was strictly forbidden to approach it further than the 100 meter wide exclusion zone. It was the job of the Sea Carabinieri from Torri del Benaco to ensure that the ban was respected . They often prevented daredevils from approaching the island.
At the beginning of 2005, the final evacuation of the island began. This was made possible by the provision of funds from the province of Verona , the municipality of Brenzone and various banks. More than 26,000 bombs had been recovered by the Bo.sca company from Venice by May 2006. The recovery turned out to be difficult because many of the explosive devices in the water were very corroded. Countless smoke bombs , artillery shells , mortar shells , plate mines , phosphorus explosives and many other ammunition were recovered. The number of bombs discovered far exceeded the estimated scope of the arsenal. They were defused in the two old quarries of Torri del Benaco and Rivoli.
From the beginning of the summer season until October 2006, the clearing work was interrupted. In the last recovery phase, the bottom of the lake around Trimelone was secured down to a depth of 35 meters. The island is still not allowed to be entered.
Discussions are currently under way to dedicate a museum to the island and its arsenal in which some of the defused bombs could be exhibited.
Panorama picture
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Isola Trimelone (Italian) accessed December 21, 2018