The patron saint of Desenzano del Garda is Saint Angela Merici, celebrated on 27 January: at the centre of Piazza Malvezzi, the town's main square dating from the 16th century, stands her statue, erected in 1772 at the will of the townspeople and made of Botticino marble by sculptor Gelfino Callegari.
Angela was born in Desenzano to Giovanni Merici and Caterina Biancosi. Convinced that the greatest need of her time was to give young girls a better religious education, she turned her own house into a school where she daily gathered the village's children, teaching them the basics of Christianity. Invited by nearby Brescia to found a similar school there, she moved there in 1516; according to devotional tradition, in 1524, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she suddenly went blind on the island of Crete, but continued her journey and regained her sight on her return, praying before a crucifix. On 25 November 1535 she laid the foundations of the Ursuline order in Brescia, near the church of Sant'Afra, and was elected Superior and Mother General for life in 1537. She was beatified in 1768 by Pope Clement XIII and canonised in 1807 by Pope Pius VII. Desenzano's duomo, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene and consecrated in 1611, holds frescoes by Andrea Celesti and a canvas of the Last Supper by Gian Domenico Tiepolo.
