Limone del Garda

Limone del Garda, the last village in the north of the Brescia shore of the lake, a tale Friar Jodoco da Berga tells to be, with Gargnano, a son of the god Benaco, is now well known tourist destination, strong charm that characterizes its historic center and the colors that surround it, from the yellow of the lemons to the silver of the olive trees that stretch over the valleys and climb the mountain. The ordered pillars of lemon houses, “on the slope of the mountains”, Goethe also amazed that he held up in his “Travel in Italy“. Fishing village accessible only by boat or through the mountains, was cut off from the rest of the world until 1932, when thanks to the construction of the road “Gardesana Occidentale” (Western Gardesana) began to open its citrus to the market and to host the first tourists who came during the war from Northern Europe. To make Lemon interesting not only its picturesque houses and narrow streets, its lemon or fine olive oil, but also the incredible longevity of its inhabitants: in 1979 he was accidentally discovered in the blood of one of its inhabitants’ s Apolipoprotein A-1 Milano, an exceptional protein that protects the heart and arteries from atherosclerosis and heart attack. This gift seems to be the result of the mild climate, the healthy Mediterranean diet and probably insulation lived so long by its inhabitants.

TERRITORY OF LIMONE DEL GARDA

Province: Brescia
Hamlets:
Surrounding municipalities: Ledro (Tn), Riva del Garda (Tn), Tremosine

Limone del Garda is situated on the border with Trentino Alto Adige and is therefore the last village you come across on the Brescia side, can be reached via the road “Gardesana Occidentale” (Western Gardesana) and is about ten kilometers from Riva del Garda. His name, though remember the fruit of the lemon is so typical of this area stems from the Celtic silt, lemos which means “elm”, or according to the tradition of the place from the Latin word limen which means “border”, precisely in relation to the its location on the border between Italy and the bishopric of Trento.

The exceptional climatic and morphological conditions make possible the cultivation of several and ordered “limonaie” (lemon houses) on Mughèra lay on its top overlooking the town.

The territory of Limone del Garda is also characterized by steep slopes, numerous springs and streams (known river Lemon whose end is called San Giovanni), born in the mountainous, descending to the valley and flow into the lake.

HISTORY OF LIMONE DEL GARDA

Limone del Garda, called Limone San Giovanni from 1863 to 1905, it was often in its history a disputed area, given its location on the border between Austria and the Kingdom of Italy, right here around 1160 was defeated Frederick Barbarossa, who in his attempt of conquest had to fight with the army of Italian municipalities. In 1400, after disputes between Brescia and Counts of Arco, the municipality passed under the control of Visconti and shortly after, of Republic of Venice.

Until the mid-twentieth century, Limone del Garda, reachable only by boat, was kept extremely isolated basing its economy on fishing, “limonaie” and the cultivation of olive groves, with the construction of the “Gardesana Occidentale” West Gardesana Road, completed in 1932, the market lemons is also open to neighboring countries allowing them to keep up with the competition from the south at a lower price. Meanwhile, the arrival of the first tourists from northern Europe in the forties after the war will Limone del Garda to be transformed into a trendy tourist center it is today.

LOCAL PRODUCTS OF LIMONE DEL GARDA

Lake fih of Garda lake, Olive oil of Garda dop, lemons