The toponym Desenzano is supposed to derive from the Latin name of persona Decentius, the alleged owner of the fourth-century Roman farm and villa of which the excavations can be visited.

[4] When the Venetians controlled this part of Italy they rebuilt the Old Port in 1454 to make Desenzano a commercial hub for the wider area with such localities as Brescia, Mantova and Verona.

[5] The baroque cathedral, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, was designed by Giulio Todeschini and built on the remains of the parish church between 1586 and 1611.

On 24 June 1859, four divisions of Sardinian infantry fought a gruesome battle with elements of the Austrian Eighth corps, under Feldzeugmeister Ludwig von Benedek, in an engagement encompassing Madonna della Scoperta, Pozzolengo, and San Martino (as Desenzano del Garda was known).

The Italian poet and librettist Angelo Anelli, who collaborated with Rossini in revising L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) from an earlier text by Luigi Mosca, and whose libretto for Ser Marcantonio by Stefano Pavesi became the basis for Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, was born in Desenzano del Garda in 1761.

[citation needed] At the center of the city are a series of interconnected piazze that house open-air cafés, shops, gelaterie (ice-cream parlours), and bars.