Solferino is a nice village in south-western Garda morainal hills, in a lush landscape sprinkled with farmhouses and vineyards. It was inhabited since the Bronze Ages, as the archaeological findings in Barche and Pozzo Catena attest: they found palafitte traces and remains from XV millennium BC.
But Solferino is above all famous because of the great battle fought on 24 June 1859 by French troops against Austrian troops; it was a typical strike battle. The French were expected in Cavriana and Guidizzolo, but they met unexpectedly the Austrian troops in Solferino at 6 am. The battle was really bloody: the French army (80,000 soldiers and 240 pieces of artillery) counted 10,000 dead and injured, while the Austrian army (90,000 soldiers and 309 pieces of artillery) counted 21,000 dead and injured. This carnage inspired Henry Dunant, who was in Castiglione delle Stiviere, to create the International Red Cross (1863).