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  • GARGANO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  A road along a hillside olive grove in Gargnano, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: Olive and palm trees are seen here on a hillside grove in Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: Olive and palm trees are seen here on a hillside grove in Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: An olive tree is seen here on a hillside grove in Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: An olive tree in a hillside grove is seen here in a hillgrove in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_10...jpg
  • GARGNANO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio, founder of La Zadruga, poses for a portrait in a hillside olive grove in Gargnano, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018. <br />
<br />
The hydraulic wand has vibrating fingers that send the fruit tumbling from the branches into mats on the ground. The Villa Romana olive variety is grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here).<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivator
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_80...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio drives his Piaggio Van loaded with harvesting tools down to the  Villa Romana olive grove, in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.<br />
<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably
    SMAS_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • GARGANO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio, founder of La Zadruga, walks amidst a hillside olive grove in Gargnano, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: An olive tree is seen here on a hillside grove in Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: An olive tree is seen here on a hillside grove in Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio drives his Piaggio Van loaded with harvesting tools in the  Villa Romana olive grove, in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018.<br />
<br />
The Villa Romana olive variety is grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here).<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive v
    CIPG_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_99...jpg
  • GARGANO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio, founder of La Zadruga, walks amidst a hillside olive grove in Gargnano, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_79...jpg
  • GARGANO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  A view of a hillside olive grove in Gargnano, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_79...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A view of the dry stone walls and terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves that horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_74...jpg
  • MANERBA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018:  A view of olive groves Manerba del Garda, a northern town on the southern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Margherita Ermirio, 32, a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, poses for a portrait in Manarola, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Margherita Ermirio, 32, a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, poses for a portrait in Manarola, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Margherita Ermirio, 32, a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, touches a non-dry stone wall (cement has been used here) to show a class of high-school students the difference with dry stone walls, here in Manarola, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A hill with terracing and dry stone walls is seen here in Vernazza, a village of the Cinque Terre, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_74...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Vittorio Ermirio (left), a former swimming champion and Margherita’s father, addresses students in his 250 square meters of pergola vineyards where he makes his Ligurian white wine, in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_74...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class climbs up the steep<br />
slope during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_73...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Margherita Ermirio, 32, a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, walks through a vineyard in a terracing here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
She wants to show younger generations the backbone of the Cinque Terre landscape, and teach them why it’s crucial to maintain their dry stone walls, dovetailed to hold the soil behind and above.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_73...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class is here during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_72...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class is here during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_72...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017:  A view of Vernazza, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terra - a rugged portion of the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region - is seen here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_72...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class takes measures during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_71...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Margherita Ermirio (32), a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, is seen here by a hill with terracings in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_70...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A view of the Ligurian coastline with its dry stone walls and terracings is seen here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_70...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: The doorphone of Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, is seen here at the entrance of his home in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_69...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A photo album with 1950s pictures of Andrea Corvaro's mother (left), one of the few women who had mastered the art of dry stone walls, and of other stone walls and farmers (right) are seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_69...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A photo album with pictures of stone walls and farmers ranging from the 50s to the 70s is seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_69...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), poses for a portrait here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_68...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), poses for a portrait here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_68...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Farming tools used in the Cinque Terre are seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. <br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_67...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), looks through the window here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_66...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Tools to build dry stone walls are seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. <br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_66...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), looks through the window here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_66...jpg
  • MANERBA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018:  A view of olive groves Manerba del Garda, a northern town on the southern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_13...jpg
  • MANERBA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018:  A view of olive groves Manerba del Garda, a northern town on the southern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_13...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Margherita Ermirio, 32, a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, poses for a portrait in Manarola, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A view of Manarola, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terra - a rugged portion of the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region - is seen here in Manarola, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Hills with dry stone walls and terracings are seen here in Manarola, a village of the Cinque Terre, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A winemaker is seen here at work in his vineyard in a terracing in Manarola, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_75...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A dry stone wall restored by Margherita Ermirio, a 32 years old local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, is seen in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
She wants to show younger generations the backbone of the Cinque Terre landscape, and teach them why it’s crucial to maintain their dry stone walls, dovetailed to hold the soil behind and above.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_74...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class is here during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_72...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class is here during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_72...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A dry stone wall restored by Margherita Ermirio, a 32 years old local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, is seen in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
She wants to show younger generations the backbone of the Cinque Terre landscape, and teach them why it’s crucial to maintain their dry stone walls, dovetailed to hold the soil behind and above.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_71...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class is here during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_71...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A dry stone wall restored by Margherita Ermirio, a 32 years old local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, is seen in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
She wants to show younger generations the backbone of the Cinque Terre landscape, and teach them why it’s crucial to maintain their dry stone walls, dovetailed to hold the soil behind and above.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_71...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A measuring tape used by a high-school class to measure dry stone walls during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, is seen here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_71...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A high-school class takes measures during a field trip with Margherita Ermirio, part of a UNESCO Youth program to enhance the relationship between the young and their territory, here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017. This class has been studying terracing in the Cinque Terre from an historical point of view, comparing the 18th century maps with Google earth’s most recent pictures. From the measures taken during the field trip, students will make a 3D design of the area.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_71...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: Margherita Ermirio, 32, a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, is seen here in front of a hill with dry stone walls and terracings she has worked on, in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
She wants to show younger generations the backbone of the Cinque Terre landscape, and teach them why it’s crucial to maintain their dry stone walls, dovetailed to hold the soil behind and above.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_70...jpg
  • VERNAZZA, ITALY - 1 JUNE 2017: A view of the 2012 flood that hit the Cinque Terra - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
villages' main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives -is seen here in Vernazza, Italy, on June 1st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170601_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_70...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A view of Manarola, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terra - a rugged portion of the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region - is seen here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_70...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A hill with terracing and dry stone walls is seen here in Manarola, a village of the Cinque Terre, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_69...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A collections of painting of the Holy Mary are seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_69...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A photo album with a 1960s picture of stonewalls and terracing of the Cinque Terre is seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_69...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), poses for a portrait here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_68...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A collcetion of tradiional Ligurian daily life items is seen here in Anselmo Crovara's  Memory Archive, housed in his own attic in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_68...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: A collcetion of tradiional Ligurian daily life items is seen here in Anselmo Crovara's  Memory Archive, housed in his own attic in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_67...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), looks at fragments of terracotta he collected in his Memory Archive here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_67...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: (R-L) Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), and Margherita Ermirio (32), a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, are seen here in Mr Crovara's Memory Archive in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_67...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Farming tools used in the Cinque Terre are seen here in Anselmo Crovara's Memory Archive, housed in his own attic, which hosts a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life, in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. <br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_66...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), walks up towards his attic in his home here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_66...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), flips through newpaper clippings of the Cinque Terre, in his home here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_65...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), shows 1970s pictures of his mother who was one of the few women who had mastered the art of dry stone walls, here in his home in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017. Mr Crovara learned to build dry stone walls when he was a little boy.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_65...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: (L-R) Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), and Margherita Ermirio (32), a local who has spent years abroad and is now the pillar of the battle to restore dry stone walls and preserve the terracing, look at a photo album with pictures of stone walls and farmers ranging from the 50s to the 70s, in Mr Crovara's home in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_65...jpg
  • MANAROLA, ITALY - 31 MAY 2017: Anselmo Crovara (82), the creator and custodian of the Memory Archive housed in his own attic (a collection of items from traditional Ligurian daily life), shows a 1970s picture of a handrwitten warning stating "Dry stone walls. Danger of fall. Do not stand by", here in Manarola, Italy, on May 31st 2017.<br />
<br />
Given its jagged coastline and manifold mountainous chains, Italy is believed to hold a record in Europe with an estimated 300,000 hectares of terracing, and 170,000 kilometers of dry stone walls— 20 times the length of the Great Wall of China.<br />
Liguria, the narrow half-moon shaped region along the northern<br />
Thyrrenian sea, has the highest concentration, and terracing is in<br />
poor shape there. In Vernazza, almost half of the terracing is in<br />
ruins.<br />
<br />
Terraced vineyards, apple and lemon groves horizontally run around the green slopes of the Cinque Terre. The stone walls have allowed such vital cultivation in the area and prevented land slides. Since the 1960s, the ancient walls have been largely<br />
abandoned, posing hydro-geological threats to the same villages during<br />
heavy rains and, in general, as time passes.<br />
<br />
Since the 2012 flood - when tons of mud invaded the<br />
village’s main road, shops and and homes, isolating the area and<br />
taking three lives - Margherita Ermirio has agreed with the various land lords to take<br />
over 6,000 square meters of land parcels that needed to be cleaned up,<br />
in order to fix them and thus prevent land slides, but also to show to<br />
the younger generations that agriculture is still possible in the<br />
Cinque Terre.
    CIPG_20170531_NYT_CinqueTerre__M3_65...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018: A woman sists on a bench at sunset on the lakefront in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181130_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_21...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Lake Garda and Monte Baldo, a mountain range in the Italian Alps, in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_19...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_19...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_19...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_12...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio, founder of La Zadruga, harvests the Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018. <br />
<br />
The hydraulic wand has vibrating fingers that send the fruit tumbling from the branches into mats on the ground. The Villa Romana olive variety is grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here).<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every yea
    CIPG_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_93...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: Ilaria Galetta, co-owner of La Zadruga with her husband Sergio Cozzaglio, poses for a portrait by a Negrel olive tree, in their land in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_08...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: A Gargnà olive tree is seen here in Sergio Cozzaglio's land in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_06...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018:  A  Villa Romana olive tree, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here),  is seen here in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_01...jpg
  • RIVA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: Olive oil is stored into stainless bins after being processed by the machines of Domus Olivae, a state-of-the-art olive mill in Riva del Garda, a northern town on the northern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. Domus Olivae uses the latest technology in which olives crushed by stainless-steel grinders produce a paste that is then whirled in a centrifuge, yielding a clear oil that expresses the intense flavors of the fruit. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_86...jpg
  • RIVA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: Domus Olivae, a state-of-the-art olive mill in Riva del Garda, a northern town on the northern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. It uses the latest technology in which olives crushed by stainless-steel grinders produce a paste that is then whirled in a centrifuge, yielding a clear oil that expresses the intense flavors of the fruit. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_83...jpg
  • RIVA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: Domus Olivae, a state-of-the-art olive mill in Riva del Garda, a northern town on the northern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. It uses the latest technology in which olives crushed by stainless-steel grinders produce a paste that is then whirled in a centrifuge, yielding a clear oil that expresses the intense flavors of the fruit. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_82...jpg
  • RIVA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: Casaliva olive oil is processed through  the machines of Domus Olivae, a state-of-the-art olive mill in Riva del Garda, a northern town on the northern shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. Domus Olivae uses the latest technology in which olives crushed by stainless-steel grinders produce a paste that is then whirled in a centrifuge, yielding a clear oil that expresses the intense flavors of the fruit. <br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_82...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Lake Garda from Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018: A tree by a jetty on Lake Garda in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018: Lake Garda shore in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018: Lakefront of  Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF7...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF6...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    SMAS_20181127_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_DSCF6...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181130_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_20...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018: A Gargnà olive tree is seen here in Sergio Cozzaglio's land in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_20...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Lake Garda and Monte Baldo, a mountain range in the Italian Alps, in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_19...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_19...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2018:  The Villa Romana olive variety, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here), is seen here  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 27th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_18...jpg
  • LIMONE SUL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Lake Garda from Limone sul Garda, a village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_17...jpg
  • MANERBA DEL GARDA, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_13...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_12...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: Women walk out of church in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_11...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A hill road in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_10...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 29 NOVEMBER 2018: A view of Toscolano Maderno at sunrise, in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 29th 2018.<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181129_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_09...jpg
  • TOSCOLANO MADERNO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2018:  Sergio Cozzaglio, founder of La Zadruga, eats a sandwich under a  Villa Romana olive tree, grown amidst the first century AD ruins of the residence of the Nonni Arrii (an upper-class Roman family who lived here),  in Toscolano Maderno, a northern village on the western shore of Lake Garda, Italy, on November 28th 2018. <br />
<br />
Villa Romana became  an olive oil produced by La Zadruga (founded by Sergio and his wife Ilaria Galetta). It won the highest possible accolade—three green leaves, denoting absolute excellence—in the prestigious Gambero Rosso guidebook to the best olive oils in Italy. The Villa Romana is pressed from a cultivar, or variety, of olive that was unknown to modern science until 2016<br />
<br />
Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is an odd micro-biome of Mediterranean olive-oil culture in the midst of frost-prone, butter-oriented Lombardy. Though its northern extreme is at the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota, Garda’s shores are girded by lemon and palm trees, as well as olive orchards, which climb the hillsides that surround the lake to heights of 1,500 feet. Lake Garda, overlooked by the Dolomites, snowcapped in early winter, is the northernmost point in the world where olives can be reliably cultivated. Lake Garda, where there is a record of uninterrupted cultivation since the thirteenth century, has a reputation for producing delicate, mild-flavored oils that has pleased more conservative northern European palates since the Renaissance.<br />
In contrast to Spain, France, and Greece, where a few star cultivars dominate production, Italy, with its multiplicity of soils and microclimates, has always been the Amazonian rainforest of olive biodiversity. Every year, the fruit from 179 million trees—three for every man, woman, and child in the nation—is gathered by 825,000 separate cultivators, to be pressed in 4,900 mills. At last count, there were 530 distinct olive varieties in Italy.
    CIPG_20181128_SAVEUR-LakeGarda_M3_99...jpg
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