Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LAKE GARDA'S LEMON INDUSTRY
It's thought monks from Genoa brought lemons to Gargnano when they arrived at the town's monastery of St
Francis in the 13th century. Lake Garda's temperate climate provided good conditions for a fruit normally grown
further south, and by the 18th century hundreds of
limonaie
(lemon houses) were being built. These kept the
frosts off the trees by laying sheets of glass over a wooden latticework supported by ranks of tall, thin stone pil-
lars. Hundreds of thousands of lemons were exported annually to Germany and Russia, providing a crucial local
income. But by the second half of the 19th century the industry fell into terminal decline due to disease and the
discovery of artificial citric acid.
Today, terraces of weathered stone pillars are evidence of this lost industry. You can visit restored lemon
houses at
Pra de la Fam
( 036 57 14 49; Tignale Porto; 3-5pm Wed & Sat, 10am-noon Sun Apr-Oct,
3-5pm Wed Nov-Mar) in Tingale Porto and
Limonaia del Castèl
( 0365 95 40 08; Via Capitelli;
adult/child €1/free; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct) in Limone sul Garda on the west bank of the lake, and at Torri del
Benaco's Il Castello Scaligero (
Click here
)
on the east bank.
The Upper Lake Road
Heading north from Gargnano the SS45bis climbs steeply, its cliff-edge bends inter-
spersed with long, dark tunnels and signs warning of rock falls. Around 8km north of
Gargnano, a turn-off on the left leads via an ultra-steep detour to the atmospheric village
of
Tignale
, some 500m above the water. Somehow clinging to a spur of rock above the
nearby hamlet of Gardola is the 16th-century
Santuario di Montecastello
( 036 57 30 19;
9am-7pm Easter-Oct)
, which has a 15th-century gilded wooden altar, frescoes of the Giotto
school and extraordinary views down the whole lake.
From here you can continue higher, over the mountain pass to the 400m-high plateau of
Tremosine
for more tremendous views of the lake. Seventeen small villages huddle on this
Alpine plateau, the main one being Pieve di Tremosine. In June you can join the five-mile
gourmet walk, the
Cinquemiglia del Ghiottone
, through woods, meadows and pastures
sampling speciality dishes in seven Tremosine villages. For more information check out
To descend from the plateau, pick up the snaking SP38 through the sheer-sided
Brasa
Gorge
. One of the most spectacular roads in Italy, Winston Churchill dubbed it 'the eighth
wonder of the world.'
Back on the main SS45bis lake road, the route from Gargnano passes
Tignale Porto
, a
popular windsurfers' hang-out. A couple of kilometres further, the cliff-backed beaches at
Campione del Garda
provide views of fleets of windsurfers skimming the lake surface at ex-
hilarating speeds.
