Peschiera del Garda is a picturesque town situated on the South of Lake Garda at the mouth of the River Mincio. It is very small and surrounded by enormous fortress walls dating from the 16th century. They were built by The Scalgieri's of Verona with additional structures added by Venetians, Austrians and Italians over many years, including the architect Sanmicheli. The fortress at Peschiera played a prominent part in most of the military campaigns conducted in northern Italy, especially in the Napoleonic wars. During the First Italian War of Independence in the 1840s it was finally taken by the Piedmontese from the Austrian occupiers.