Top 14 Lakes around Parco naturale regionale delle Alpi Apuane

The lake of Gramolazzo is a lake in the Apuan Alps located near the homonymous village in the municipality of Minucciano. Of artificial origin, it was created in the second half of the 1900s, together with the lake of Vagli by SELT Valdarno for the hydroelectric use of the Serchio river and its tributaries. The lake, which has a surface area of one square kilometer and a volume of 3.8 million cubic meters, has both the Serchio di Gramolazzo as its inflow and outflow, one of the two branches that, joining near Piazza al Serchio, form the Tuscan river. Another important stream that flows into the lake is the Acqua Bianca stream, which coming from Mount Pisanino crosses the village of Gorfigliano. A large part of the water, however, is fed through a channel on the left bank, near the dam, which with a maximum flow rate of 20 cubic meters per second discharges the waters captured from the Serchio into the Sillano valley. The waters of the lake of Gramolazzo feed the Fabbriche power plant which in turn discharges them into the lake of Vagli.

The construction of the hydroelectric dam, designed by Count Eng. Ignazio Prinetti Castelletti, began in 1941, slowed down during wartime, and was completed in 1947 under the supervision of SELT Valdarno (now Enel). In the period 1951-53, the dam was raised by about 30 m, bringing the overall height to about 88-92 m. The ordinary arch and gravity dam, built in concrete, has a crest 150 m long and 5 m wide, while the width at foundation level is about 70 m. The crest is accessible to the public all year round. The lake, artificially formed in 1947 by damming the Edron stream, constitutes the dam's reservoir. Upon filling, the rising lake waters submerged some villages, the main one being Fabbriche di Careggine, a small village of blacksmiths from Brescia, founded in the 13th century, which re-emerges with every emptying of the basin. Since the Vajont disaster, the basin has not been filled beyond 80% of its maximum capacity. The basin holds about 35 million cubic meters of water and is exceptionally emptied in case maintenance intervention is necessary. This has happened four times: in 1958, 1974, 1983, and 1994. In the latter year, almost 1 million tourists from all over the world arrived in Vagli.

The place is cool and quiet during the week. Canoe rentals are available for lake excursions.

Beautiful, little water when we passed, but very suggestive.

Lago di Vagli (Vagli Sotto) - That's all it needs to be / Day 13 Last day of vacation in Green Tuscany. Temperatures rise above 40°C. In search of cooling, which we find on the banks of the Lago di Vagli reservoir. We are triggered by the sunken village, Fabbriche di Careggine, which was evacuated in 1947 to create a reservoir for the public interest. This village had a beautiful Romanesque church from the 13th century, a few houses and a cemetery. Every now and then the church tower of the village appears above the water. In a haze of mystery and the mirage above the water surface, we hope to catch a glimpse of the spire. The ghost village only reveals its hidden secrets every 25 years. The last time the reservoir was drained for maintenance work was in 1996 and was allowed to receive millions of visitors. Due to corona, the draining has been postponed. Now we are looking forward to a new period when the lake will be drained once again. Ruins will then reveal their secrets again... will the church tower of San Teodoro still be intact? It is also said that the spirits of the deceased residents then return and haunt the village, a real ghost town... 'More' is all we need for that... Ponte Morandi and Ponte dei Fanti di Marina let us enjoy beautiful views over the idyllic lake, the picturesque village of Vagli Sotto with the beautiful green mountain landscape in the background. We walk past the statues of Parco dell'Onore e del Disonore in an exemplary manner. Here 'Honour and Dishonour' stare out over the surface of the water. The statues of Trump and Putin are only worth a two-second glance. We complete our discovery adventurously along the shady banks of Vagli Sotto. With a delicious lunch behind us, we finally leave... The heat is getting too much for us, returning to our B&B seems like a good idea... Read more experiences? Click through to https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/collection/2195535/-visit-italy-2023-regio-massa-carrara-lucca

View of the lake from the east side along the provincial road, with the Apuan Alps in the background.

The body of water is located in the municipality of Vagli Sotto in the province of Lucca and was formed artificially with the damming of the Edron stream in 1947 by SELT Valdarno (now Enel s.p.a.) and the construction of a hydroelectric dam designed by Count Eng. Ignazio Prinetti Castelletti as recalled by an inscription fixed to the wall between the steps on the western bank. In 1948 the works on the dam were completed with the subsequent raising to 92 meters. The rising waters of the lake submerged some villages among which the main one was Fabbriche di Careggine, a small village of blacksmiths from Brescia, founded in the 13th century, which re-emerges every time the lake is emptied. The lake contains approximately 35 million cubic meters of water and is emptied exceptionally if maintenance is necessary. It has happened four times: in 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994. The new emptying was expected for 2024, but due to the water needs caused by recent droughts, it was decided to postpone the emptying to 2026 (unless it becomes necessary to postpone it again). The wait for the new emptying is linked to the tourist attraction offered by the re-emergence of the village of Fabbriche di Careggine, whose structure (including the beautiful church of San Teodoro) is still substantially intact under the waters of the lake.

Lake Gramolazzo is located in the Apuan Alps park and is an artificial basin created with a dam on the Serchio river during the 1950s.