Limone is a popular tourist resort on the shore of Lake Garda, in north-east Italy. It lies at the mountainous northern end of Lake Garda and rocky cliffs!
Until the 1940s the city was reachable only by lake or through the mountains, with the road to Riva del Garda being built only 1932, but today Limone is one of the most renowned tourist resorts in the area.
Limone is the Italian word for ‘lemon’ and this shore of Lake Garda was once renowned for growing lemons and citrus fruits.
Limone’s name, however, is no more than a happy chance, since it is said to be much older than the lemon groves, and to derive from a Latin word meaning ‘boundary’.
Some 40 years ago, medical researchers ­discovered that residents of this beautiful north Italian resort possessed a protein that protected the body against cardiovascular problems and therefore helped them live longer.
This protein, in association with a healthy Mediterranean diet, rich in local fish, olive oil and citrus fruits, and with particular climate conditions, has given the residents of Limone a longer life span, with a dozen people now over the age of 100.