GLACIER WATER

Timeless essence and purity

 

From the Brenta Dolomites to the depths of the lake: the origins of Lake Garda

Lake Garda is as old as the Alps: indeed, it was formed more than 60 million years ago as a result of the folding and fracturing of the alpine rock. Some of the purest waters on the planet must have emerged from the cracks in the granite back then. But then the ice age began. A frozen river stretched out from the Brenta Dolomites, where peaks and towering rocks still reach up to the clear skies of Trentino. When the thaw came, powerful currents of water carried debris for kilometres and kilometres until they formed the imposing amphitheatre of the morainic hills. Eventually, the land embraced the water, forming a natural dam, which, after receiving almost thirty individual tributaries, became one of the largest and most perfect lakes in Italy.

It did not take long for life to claim that paradise: green hills and coniferous forests were dotted with springs and rocky outcrops, in whose shade the first animals found shelter. For thousands of years, the only sounds that disturbed this miracle of nature were the summer thunderstorms and the occasional, fleeting screech of birds of prey. Incredulous in the face of such beauty.

Then came men, primitive inhabitants. They built sanctuaries and villages, and shaped flint, porphyry, marble and alabaster. They settled around ponds and peat bogs, erected altars to the gods of the sun and the mountains, and lit the first fires at night.

 

Water as the seed of life

Since the very beginning, water has been regarded as a crucial resource for human settlements. This is well known by the archaeologists who have been working on the Lucone pile-dwelling site in Valtènesi for sixty years. A World Heritage Site, this ancient body of water was home to at least five different settlements from over 5,000 years ago until the Middle Bronze Age. Today, their story is told in museums, but the more we find out about them, the more astonishing it seems. Over the years, the Lucone has yielded an incredible prehistoric dugout canoe made of oak, as well as weapons, pottery, textiles and human bones. Thanks to it, we have learnt what it was like to be born, live and die on the water. We have learnt about the various types of buildings and how they were maintained, their fires, the attacks they suffered, their farming methods, the meals they ate, the clothes they wore and, last but not least, the rituals they performed to thank the lake that sustained and protected them.

Of the 19 pile-dwelling sites in the Alps, 10 are situated around Lake Garda. But they were only the beginning of a bond with the Benaco, which was destined to last for centuries. From the Grottos of Catullus in Sirmione (more than two hectares around a villa that was one of the most elegant buildings of the Empire) to the splendid Roman domi in Desenzano or Toscolano Maderno, from the imposing medieval fortresses to the spectacular Renaissance residences, the relationship with the lake was profound. Docks, wharves, beaches, but also water mills, paper mills, and factories: water has always ruled the hearts and lives on Lake Garda.

 

A Spa with an old-world charm and a focus on well-being

Discovered a few years ago, the baths frequented by the Roman aristocracy from Riva del Garda until the middle of the 3rd century A.D. have recently been opened to the public. For more than three centuries the tepidariums, frigidariums and saunas welcomed the social elite of the Trentino town: strolling over polychrome mosaics and coloured marbles, immersing themselves in the hot waters or practising sports in the large adjoining courtyard, this is how they spent leisurely afternoons. In the evenings, they would perhaps recharge their batteries while enjoying the sunset over the lake, sipping local wine sweetened with honey. However, the flood that sealed off the area for over half a millennium did not stop people enjoying the benefits of the baths, even more so along the south-eastern shore of the Benaco.

Sirmione is famous for its thermal springs, which once bubbled just a few metres from the peninsula. It was once thought that they originated from the heart of Mount Baldo, believed to be an extinct volcano, but it is now known that they come from a deep fissure at the bottom of the lake. By the end of the 19th century, its sulphurous waters began to attract hundreds of thousands of people. By the turn of the century, the health benefits of the thermal springs had made the pages of newspapers around the world, and resorts, spas, hotels and treatment centres have flourished ever since.

No less impressive are the thermal baths of Lazise, where the elegant ‘Villa dei Cedri‘, formerly the headquarters of General Rommel and his staff as well as his personal residence, welcomes visitors in almost 13 hectares of parkland amidst centuries-old holm oaks, streams, small lakes, grottos and neo-Gothic architecture.

 

The springs of Lake Garda, a mystery hidden deep within the mountains

There are thousands of them and the true place of origin of many of them is still unknown: they are the Alpine springs around Lake Garda, which have always been synonymous with purity and well-being. From the ancient glacial basin of the Adamello Group, within the Alto Garda Natural Park, waters flow underground through an unspoilt, protected landscape. Crystal-clear, bacteriologically pure, perfectly drinkable water, enriched with precious natural ingredients emerge from deep aquifers.

There is no ancient spring in the Benaco area that has not inspired a ritual or a legend in the past. People worshipped the Naiads, the freshwater nymphs, and among them the splendid Pegaeae, beloved of the purest springs. Their healing powers could ward off disease and bless the harvest. Over the centuries, many farmers left milk, fruit and flowers at the edge of the spring pools for the reclusive deities.

If you are lucky enough to wander through the woods overlooking Lake Garda, pay attention: small altars, memorial stones and legends still serve as reminders. It is not uncommon to find churches and small chapels in the vicinity: the Christian sensibility for baptismal innocence has thereby revived Hellenic traditions among noble palaces and remote paths.

 

The key element in every beauty product

Whatever it is used for, every cosmetic product has an important water base, which is fundamental and essential. After all, water is the source of life, and makes up more than half of our body.

This is why Secretum Gardae has tested the best springs that bring the purest and most balanced water directly from the Alpine glaciers to the Garda area. We have chosen an oligomineral water for our serums that comes from the Adamello Group in the Lombardian Prealps. It is, at its summit, the largest glacier in the Italian Alps, with peaks over 3,400 metres high. Such is the astonishing beauty of its peaks that even the most beloved Pope of all time, John Paul II, considered it his favourite place. From there, the natural process of purifying the water and absorbing valuable minerals begins.

Low in mineral salts, with particularly low levels of dissolved solids and sodium, the water chosen for your beauty is regularly tested and measured to ensure, directly at the source, the excellence on which Secretum Gardae has built its cosmetics business. Once all the ecological and environmental conditions have been ascertained, it is then sent to the laboratory where its purity is constantly monitored until it receives the Secretum Gardae formulation ennoblement.