Sona
Sona is a town of around 18,000 people that occupies a stretch of morainic hills halfway between Verona and Lake Garda, a gentle l...
Updated 11 July 2026 · Sources: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sona · https://www.terredelcustoza.com/en/comuni/sona/ · https://inviaggio.touringclub.it/consigli-di-viaggio/una-gita-a-sona-nel-veronese
The story
The story of Sona
The morainic hills and the Garda landscape
The hills of Sona form part of the Garda morainic amphitheatre, a system of low ridges shaped by the retreat of the ancient Garda glacier thousands of years ago. The result is a rolling landscape of gentle rises and small valleys alternating vineyards, olive groves and copses, quite different from both the Verona plain and the steeper Prealps further north. This particular terrain, combined with a microclimate softened by the lake's proximity, creates ideal conditions for viticulture, and also pleasant views for anyone driving, cycling or walking the hill roads. On clear days, from the highest points of the municipality you can make out the profile of Lake Garda and, beyond it, the Prealps.
Custoza wine and the winemaking tradition
The Sona area lies within the production zone of Bianco di Custoza DOC, made mainly from Garganega, Trebbianello and Cortese grapes, giving fresh, mineral wines well matched to lake cuisine. Numerous local wineries, some family-run for several generations, open for tastings and vineyard visits, often paired with tours that also tell the story of a territory long shaped by farming. The denomination takes its name from the hamlet of Custoza, technically in the municipality of Sommacampagna but bordering Sona, and today represents one of the flagship products of wine tourism between Verona and Garda, less famous than Bardolino but appreciated by connoisseurs.
The Battles of Custoza and Risorgimento memory
The area between Sona and Custoza was the setting for two major battles of the Italian Risorgimento, in 1848 and 1866, when Austrian troops under General Radetzky, and later Austro-Hungarian forces, clashed with Piedmontese and Italian armies right across these hills. The first battle directly involved Sona's own territory, the scene of an Austrian attempt to break through Piedmontese lines between Sona and Custoza. Today the memory of those clashes survives in monuments, ossuaries and place names across the area, an important if little-publicised chapter in the history of Italian unification, now woven into today's agricultural and wine-growing landscape.
The Romanesque country churches
Sona's territory holds a number of fine country churches, evidence of the religious and administrative importance these rural pievi held in medieval times. The most significant is the pieve of Santa Giustina in Palazzolo, surrounded by a rustic cemetery and considered an important monument of Veronese Romanesque architecture, with the sober lines typical of plain-and-hill churches built between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Other minor religious buildings dot the municipality's hamlets, often standing isolated among the vineyards, offering quiet stops along touring routes, appreciated by anyone cycling the hill roads.
San Giorgio in Salici and the other hamlets
The municipality of Sona is made up of the main town and several hamlets, including San Giorgio in Salici, the smallest by population, a tight-knit village among the hills and surrounded by vineyards that keeps a still-rural atmosphere. Other hamlets such as Lugagnano and Palazzolo mix more recently built residential quarters with smaller historic cores, reflecting the population growth the area has seen in recent decades thanks to its closeness to both Verona and Lake Garda. It's a territory where an agricultural vocation coexists with steady housing expansion, typical of many towns in Verona's western commuter belt.
Experiences not to miss
- Degustare il Bianco di Custoza in una cantina locale
- Taste Bianco di Custoza wine at a local winery
To see
What to see in Sona
Routes · Trovido Route
Routes in Sona
Jobs · JobFlow
