Lago di, the ancient Benacus, the largest of the Italian lakes, is in Austrian Italy, inclosed by the delegations of Mantua, Brescia, and Verona, and the circle of Roveredo in the Tyrol. It is about 35 miles in length from N. to S., and the southern portion, where widest, is 13 miles across, but it narrows towards the N., where its breadth is not more than 3 or 4 miles. At its northern extremity it receives the Sarco and numerous smaller streams; and its surplus waters are discharged by the Mincio into the Po. It is inclosed by Alpine ridges, except towards the S., where it is bounded by the great plain of Lombardy, and where the peninsula of Sirmio projects into its waters. The elevation of its surface is about 320 feet above the sea, and this is increased by 4 or 5 feet in the beginning of summer from the melting of the Alpine snows. Its greatest depth is 950 feet. Its waters are of a dark-blue colour, are subject to violent storms, and abound in fish. Near its E. shore Napoleon defeated the Austrians under Wurmser on 5th July 1796. Garda, the village from which the lake takes its name, stands on its eastern shore, and was anciently a port of some importance.