The firm was founded in 1821 by Girolamo Luxardo in the city of Zadar,
Kingdom of Dalmatia. Luxardo had moved to Zadar with his family in 1817, as the
consular representative of the
Kingdom of Sardinia. His wife (Maria Canevari) produced liqueurs at home, specializing in "rosolio maraschino", a liquor from
Dalmatia, and Luxardo founded the distillery to produce
Liquore Maraschino. Within eight years of existence, the Luxardo Maraschino was recognized a superior product by the Emperor. By 1839, the Luxardo Maraschino was consumed in overseas
New Orleans. In 1913 a new distillery was built by Michelangelo Luxardo, who was of the third generation of Luxardos. The distillery was one of the largest in the
Austro-Hungarian Empire (maybe the largest distillery in Europe at one time before Giorgio moved to
Torreglia, near
Padua, in the
Veneto region of Italy, where he built a new distillery and continued the family's and firm's activities. The sixth generation of the family is still active in the operations of the company, including: Piero Luxardo, Franco Luxardo, Guido Luxardo, Matteo Luxardo, Filippo Luxardo and Giorgio Luxardo. == Marasca cherries ==