The Republic of Venice settled permanently in the Garda region and in the territories of Brescia and Bergamo after the peace of Lodi in 1454.
At this time the port of Desenzano was completely renovated. The external dam, up to the lighthouse equipped with a lantern, however, dates back to the late nineteenth century.

Before the nineteenth century, the small port (now also called Porto Vecchio) was defended by a large quay and by some rocks that held back the rush of the waters when the lake was stormy and the boats docked at the quay in front of it.

In the nineteenth century there was a considerable traffic of goods, which departed from Desenzano or came to it from the lakeside centers by boats or large boats pulled by small tugs. A tramway started from a square now occupied by the gardens at the beginning of Lungolago C. Battisti and connected Desenzano with Castiglione and Mantua.
The Venetian-style bridge, which overlooks the entrance to the marina, was built in our century, in the thirties. The large southern dock was also built during the 1930s.
Now the "nineteenth-century style" steamers, with their beautiful slender lines, have been almost completely replaced by motorboats-ferries and very fast hydrofoils.