Molina

A small town on Lake Ledro, known mainly for the Bronze Age pile-dwellings settlement. Its name comes from a latin word which means "village of the mills". Infact, many activities like mills, sawmills and smithies flourished along the torrent Ponale in the last century. They harnessed the power of water until the hydroelectric power plant in Riva del Garda was built.

The town centre and the older parts of the nearby villages are built in the typical architectural style of the area, although many houses were rebuilt or renovated after the First World War.
The centre of Molina is Piazza Roma, near the granitic monumental staircase which takes to the Church of St. Virgil, built in the eighteenth century to replace the one on the lake side.
Not far-away from the centre, in via Verdesina there is the small Church dedicated to St. Francesco do Paola, built in 1628 and "Casa Zecchini", the house where in 1798 the illustrious poet Andrea Maffei was born
Exponent of the classicism and expert of foreign languages, he translated in italian many works of the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon literatures, in particular Schiller's works, the "Othello" and "The Storm" of Shakespeare and many other works of Goethe, like "Faust".
He was also poet and novelist, he wrote for Giuseppe Verdi the booklet for the opera "I masnadieri", and revised some verses of "Macbeth" by Francesco Maria Piave.
Our visit of Molina cannot omit two important frescoes which decorate some exterior facades. In via Maffei, on the house called "al Castel" you can admire the "Madonna with the Child" and the Saints Rocco, Antonio Abate and Martire. These frescoes dates back to 1730. Close to the mill of the family Brighenti, another fresco of the eighteenth century is visible on the facade of the house "Baì".
Noteworthy is the pile-dwelling Museum, built in 1972, which contains the archeological finds. During the excavations, the experts found more than 10.000 piles, severals pieces of pottery, bronze, stone, bone and wood artefacts, which date back to the bronze age.