Lake of Resia

Lake Resia, in Curon Venosta, in South Tyrol, is a unique place. Located near the Resia Pass, it is the largest water basin in the north-western province of Bolzano, but it is also a destination rich in history, legends and natural wonders. Which intrigue and fascinate every visitor, in every season.

This year, he is preparing to experience a new season as a protagonist, thanks to the release on Netflix of the new TV series Curon, shot right here. And there are those who are already betting on a tourism boom.

If on the screen the Resia Lake is represented as sinister and unwelcoming. But once you arrive in front of its iconic bell tower in the lake, symbol of Curon Venosta and Val Venosta, you realize that the reality is quite different. The building stands out solitary not far from the shores of the lake, 6.6 kilometers long and one kilometer wide.

The history of Lake Resia dates back to the 1950s, when, five years after the end of the Second World War, the works on a large dam for the production of hydroelectric energy were completed, which united two of the three natural basins of the Resia Pass. : Lake Resia and Curon, the middleman. Lake San Valentino alla Muta, further south, has instead remained in its original state.

The water forever engulfed the old village of Curon Venosta and part of the municipality of Resia, which today rest at a depth of 22 meters. And the inhabitants were forced to abandon everything, houses, farms, fields and roads, despite the protests. They emigrated not far away, building the new Curon Venosta and a new life.

To remember the sad past and the submerged villages, only the memories of the elderly remain and, in fact, the bell tower of the Romanesque Church of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, dating back to 1357, the only survivor of the explosion that demolished about 160 buildings.