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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, December 15, 2014: The artificial Lake Reschen - Italy

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I have visited a few artificial lakes on my travels but Lake Reschen tops my list - simply breathtaking. It is located in the western portion of South Tyrol, Italy, approximately 2 km south of Reschen Pass which forms the border with Austria and 3 km east of the border with Switzerland. 

 

The lake is famous for the steeple of a submerged 14th-century church. In 1950 the villages of Graun and Reschen were submerged in order to make way for the lake and a total of 163 homes were lost. The clock tower of the old church still stands above 20 feet of water and is the most popular tourist attraction of the area today. In fact it is the only reminder that the village ever existed.

 

During the winter when the water freezes, it's popular for walking on foot where people go to get a close up of the steeple. Ice skating is also very popular. Legend has it that during the winter you can still hear church bells ring. In reality the bells were removed from the tower a week before the area was flooded to create the lake.  

 

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  • Lake Reschen

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