Gloriously glamorous villas dot the lakeside. Fearless kite-surfers scoot and skate over the sun-kissed water. And snow-capped mountains tumble towards the water’s edge where colorful villages cling. Look a little closer, though, and you start to spot buildings with no roofs, clinging to the shoreline and slopes. There are hundreds of them and their history dates back over 800 years. They’re not derelict, however, these are the lemon houses of Lake Garda and this is their story.

The origins of Italian lemons
Lemons and Italy go together like Laurel and Hardy, strawberries and cream or gin and tonic but many people don’t realise that lemons aren’t actually native to Italy. In fact, their origins are a little hazy, so no-one really knows where they come from, although it certainly wasn’t Europe.