Lago di Capodacqua

Lake Capodacqua lies below Monte Scarafano at the headwaters of the Tirino. Created in 1965 as an irrigation basin, it submerged rural buildings including two mills.

Why it matters

Lake Capodacqua is an artificial basin with a natural soul. It formed around the Capodacqua spring, one of the three sources of the Tirino, a river fed largely by underground water. When the springs were dammed in 1965 to irrigate the farmland of the Tirino valley, the rising water swallowed rural buildings that stood in the basin, including old mills, and the flooded remains beneath the clear water earned the lake its nickname, the little Atlantis of Abruzzo. The basin is part of the Natura 2000 network, providing habitat for migratory and nesting birds.

What to notice

The lake’s notable feature is its water. Fed by springs that keep it near ten degrees, the lake’s clear water reveals the flooded structures below. Submerged remains include a large mill associated with the Verlengia family, a smaller structure and a former dye-works. Birds winter and nest around the water. The lake sits at the foot of Monte Scarafano in the municipality of Capestrano, within the national park; its outflow joins the spring system that feeds the Tirino.

Context and history

The lake’s history is layered. Until the mid-twentieth century the basin was farmland at the meeting of springs; in 1965 the waters were canalised behind a dam to create an irrigation reservoir for the valley's agriculture, submerging the working rural buildings that stood there. The site later entered the Natura 2000 network as a special conservation area. The submerged mills give the reservoir an archaeological dimension alongside its natural habitats.