Lake Garda in the context of "Bergamo"

The Veneti (sometimes also referred to as Venetici, Ancient Veneti or Paleoveneti to distinguish them from the modern-day inhabitants of the Veneto region, called Veneti in Italian) were an Indo-European people who inhabited northeastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of Veneto, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC and developing their own original civilization along the 1st millennium BC.

The Veneti were initially attested in the area between Lake Garda and the Euganean Hills; later they expanded until they reached borders similar to those of the current Veneto region. According to the archaeological finds (which also agree with the written sources), the western borders of their territory ran along Lake Garda, the southern ones followed a line that starts from the Tartaro river, follows the Po and reaches Adria, along the extinct branch of the Po of Adria, while the eastern ones reached up to the Tagliamento river.

The Italian Lakes (Italian: Grandi laghi prealpini, lit. "great pre-alpine lakes") are a group of large lakes lying on the south side of the Alps, in the basin of the river Po and the Mediterranean Sea. As their name suggests, they are essentially located in northern Italy; however, they are also partly located in southern Switzerland. They are all glacial lakes that formed after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. The group is composed of (from west to east): Lake Orta, Lake Maggiore, Lake Varese, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro and Lake Garda. The three largest are all well over 100 km; they are: Lake Garda (largest in Italy), Lake Maggiore (largest in southern Switzerland) and Lake Como (deepest in Italy).

The lakes are located in the Italian regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and in the Swiss canton of Ticino. They are all located at least partly in Italy, while two of them (Maggiore and Lugano) are partly in Switzerland.

The Italian Social Republic (Italian: Repubblica Sociale Italiana, IPA: [reˈpubblika soˈtʃaːle itaˈljaːna]; RSI, known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (Italian: Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (Italian: Repubblica di Salò, IPA: [reˈpubblika di saˈlɔ]), was a German puppet state with limited diplomatic recognition that was created during the latter part of World War II. It was a collaborationist regime in German-occupied Italy, established after the German invasion of Italy in September 1943 and disbanded with the surrender of Axis troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation triggered widespread national resistance against it and the Italian Social Republic during the liberation of Italy and the Italian civil war.

The Italian Social Republic was the second and last incarnation of the Italian Fascist state, led by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his reformed Republican Fascist Party. The newly founded state declared Rome its capital but the de facto capital was Salò (hence the colloquial name of the state), a small town on Lake Garda, near Brescia, where Mussolini and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were headquartered. The Italian Social Republic nominally exercised sovereignty in Northern and Central Italy, but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control.

Brescia (Italian: [ˈbreʃʃa] , locally [ˈbreːʃa]; Brescian: Brèsa [ˈbrɛsɔ, ˈbrɛhɔ, ˈbrɛsa, ˈbrɛha]; Venetian: Bressa or Bresa; Latin: Brixia) is a city and comune (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. With a population of 200,352, it is the second largest city in Lombardy and the fourth largest in northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the administrative city limits and has a population of 672,822, while over 1.5 million people live in its metropolitan area. The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with over 1.2 million inhabitants.

Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia (in antiquity Brixia) has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times. Its old town contains the best-preserved Roman public buildings in northern Italy and numerous monuments, among these the medieval castle, the Old and New cathedral, the Renaissance Piazza della Loggia and the rationalist Piazza della Vittoria.

Lake Como, also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. Its characteristic "Y" shape resulted from the movement of the ancient Adda glacier, which was diverted by the mountainous terrain and carved the three branches.

Located at the foot of the Alps, Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocracy and the wealthy since Roman times, and a major tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. The homonymous city was named Novum Comum by consul Julius Caesar in 59 BC. Its shores are dotted with numerous villas and palaces, such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta, known for their historic architecture and elaborate gardens. The mild, humid climate, influenced by the lake, supports a diverse range of subtropical plants as well as traditional Mediterranean crops like olives. The surrounding mountains host typical Alpine flora and fauna. A significant religious site is the Sacro Monte di Ossuccio, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Salò (Italian: [saˈlɔ]; Latin: Salodium) is a town and comune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the seat of government of the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, a state often referred to as the "Salò Republic" (Repubblica di Salò in Italian).

The Garda Mountains (Italian: Prealpi Gardesane), occasionally also the Garda Hills, are an extensive mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps in northern Italy.

The province of Verona (Italian: provincia di Verona) is a province of the Veneto region in Italy. On its northwestern border, Lake Garda—Italy's largest—is divided between Verona and the provinces of Brescia (Lombardy region) and Trentino (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region). Its capital is the city of Verona. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The province is cosmopolitan in nature. It is bordered by Italian Tyrol in the north, province of Vicenza and province of Padua in the east, province of Rovigo and province of Mantua in the south, and Lake Garda in the west. From north to south the maximum extent of the province is 50 miles while it is 25 miles from east to west.