emminello lemons are a unique citrus variety of the Gargano promontory in Apulia. The fruit is cultivated exclusively in the municipalities of Vico del Gargano, Ischitella, and Rodi Garganico, three small farming communities which have thrived from this citrus production since as early as the 11th Century.
According to a written account, Melo the Prince of Bari, in 1003 AD, met three Norman pilgrims at the Church of the Archangel on the Gargano promontory. He wished to enlist them as mercenaries to help him conquer Apulia, for which purpose he praised most highly the surrounding lands. To demonstrate that Gargano was indeed a fertile and wealthy region, he also sent a selection of local produce back to Normandy with them.
Among the gifts were pomi citrini, or citrus pomes, equivalent to melangolo also known as bitter orange, which was a common type of citrus in Europe until the end of the 16th Century.
Friar Filippo Bernardi, writing almost seven centuries later, described the villages of Vico and Rodi as "full of citrus trees, that bring wealth to the local peasants, thanks to the continuous passage of Venetians and Slavonians, who come here to load up on wine, oranges, lemons."
Friar Bernardi added, "Rodi’s vast orchards have such good quality orange and lemon plants that they resemble oaks more than citrus trees."
The oldest document that touches specifically on the production of Femminello lemons is titled, "Statistics of the Kingdom of Naples," from 1811. The report estimated the value of Gargano’s annual citrus production at 100,000 ducats, noting that most of it was exported. In fact as early as 1884, almost the entire citrus harvest from the area was shipped to the United States and Canada.
