Venosta lake in winter.
Reschensee (Italian: Lago di Resia, German: Reschensee) or Lake Reschen is an artificial lake located in the western portion of South Tyrol, near the Reschen Pass and 2 km (1 mi) from the Austrian border. With its capacity of 120 million cubic meters (97,000 ac·ft) it is the largest lake in the province. It is fed by the Adige, Rojenbach and Karlinbach and drained by the Adige. Plans for a smaller (5 meter deep) artificial lake date from 1920. In July 1939, the Montecatini company (now Edison Energia) introduced a new plan for a 22-meter (72 ft) deep lake, which would unify two natural lakes (Reschensee and Mittersee) and submerge several villages, including Graun and part of Reschen. The creation of the dam started in April 1940, but due to the war and local resistance, did not finish until July 1950. Ironically, in 1947 Montecatini received 30 million Swiss francs from the Swiss company Elektro-Watt for the construction of the dam (in exchange for 10 years of seasonal electricity) after the local population had voted against the company's plans to build a dam that would have submerged the Swiss village of Splügen. Graun's population did not have such success, despite a willing ear of Antonio Segni who would later become Italy's prime minister, and in total 163 homes and 523 hectares (1,290 acres) of cultivated land were submerged. The top of the 14th-century church tower is still visible. In winter, when the lake freezes, the tower is reachable by foot. A legend says that during the winter one can still hear church bells ring (in reality the bells were removed from the tower on July 18, 1950, a week before the demolition of the church and the creation of the lake).
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Photo credit: © lugris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: adige, bell, bolzano, bozen, holiday, italy, lake, lugris2, reschen, resia, tourism, tower, travel, trent, vacation, valley, venosta, winter
