"Grotte" is plural for the Italian word "grotta" which literally means "cave" or "grotto". The term was used in the Renaissance (1300s - 1500s) to describe buried and collapsed structures, covered by vegetation



The villa belonged to the family of Gaius Valerius Catullus. Catullus was born to an aristocratic family in Verona during the first century B.C., and spent most of his life in the city of Rome.

His poetry marked a departure from the classical poetry of the likes of Homer and other fabled Greek poets, and was not popular with politicians of the day (such as Cicero).

It was, however, popular with the common folk and was inspirational to later Roman poets such as Ovid, Horace and Virgil.

Here is one of the poems of Catullus:

Catullus 51

That fellow seems to me to be equal to a god,

That fellow, if it is proper, to surpass the gods,

Who sitting opposite you repeatedly

Sees you and hears you

Laughing sweet, which in my wretched state steals

All sense from me: for as soon as I looked upon

You, Lesbia, no voice (nothing of voice) remained for me

upon my mouth

My tongue grows numb, A thin flame

Seeps beneath my limbs, my ears ring

With their own sound, my eyes are covered

With twin night.

Leisure, Catullus, is bothersome to you:

In leisure you exult too much and without restraint:

Leisure has ruined both former kings

And cities once wealthy.

Note: "Lesbia" was the literary pseudonym of the great love of the poet's life: Clodia Metelli, who, after the death of her first husband, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, had a romantic relationship with Catullus.

Thornton Wilder's novel "The Ides Of March" prominently features Catullus, his poetry and his relationship with Clodia; and, Johann Johannsson, an Icelandic composer, set to music Catullus' Poem 85, on his 2002 album, in a track entitled "Odi Et Amo."

English poet, Louis MacNeice, refers to Catullus in his poem "Epitaph for Liberal Poets," as one of the first "liberal poets;" while American poet, Archibald MacLeish, has written an ode to Catullus, entitled "You Also, Gaius Valerius Catullus."

John Fowles novel "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1969) mentions Catullus as "one of the fore-most poets on love, sexuality and desire;" and, the New York Musical Theater Festival, in 2007, featured a musical "Tully" which loosely adapted the poems of Catullus.

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy and is located in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy fifteen miles from the city of Verona

You'll recall Verona was where Romeo and Juliet fell in love. It is situated about half-way between Venice and Milan. You may have glimpsed Verona from the train on your first day in Italy as you made your way from Milan to Venice.

Garda was formed by glaciers at the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 years ago). It is a major tourist destination, with a number of hotels and resorts along its shore.

While in Italy, be sure to visit Lake Garda and don't forget to pay your respect to Catullus and his grotto.