Chiesa di Santa Maria Immacolata

On the lakeshore of Lugana, Sirmione's mainland district, Santa Maria Immacolata tells a story of local determination. Between 1909 and 1913 the community itself gathered the stones and raised this church, which grew from a chapel into a parish and remains a quiet, evocative presence facing the water, restored to full brightness in 2014.

Why it matters

Most churches on Garda were founded by lords, monasteries or distant authorities. This one was built by its own future congregation: the people of Lugana procured the stones for the walls of a church their fishing and farming settlement needed. That origin explains its character, simple in form yet strongly felt by the community, and it marks the moment when Sirmione's religious map expanded beyond the peninsula to the growing lakeside districts. The church’s twentieth-century history — from chapel to parish, consecrated church and restored heritage site — reflects the development of the lower Garda shore.

What to notice

Built between 1909 and 1913, the church faces Lake Garda from Lugana’s small shorefront square. A planted garden behind it opens onto views of the lake. The interior retains the intimate scale of the original chapel.

Context and history

At the start of the twentieth century, Lugana was a separate lakeside settlement dependent on the old parish of Sirmione across the water. The community supplied the stones and the church rose on the shore between 1909 and 1913, being inaugurated on 8 December 1913, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as a chapel subject to the parish of Sirmione. Growth of the district brought canonical maturity: the chapel was elevated to parish status on 17 May 1942 and solemnly consecrated on 7 March 1981. A comprehensive restoration completed in 2014 returned the building to sound condition, and Its liturgical feast falls on 8 December each year, echoing its inauguration date.