Lago Cecita

Lake Cecita is the largest lake on the Sila plateau, an artificial reservoir formed on the Mucone in the 1950s. Its water lies among the pine and beech forests of Sila Grande, near the Cupone visitor centre.

Why it matters

At 1,143 metres above sea level and holding about 108 million cubic metres of water, Cecita is a major feature of the Sila landscape. Along with Arvo and Ampollino, it is one of the plateau's principal artificial lakes, built for hydroelectricity, drinking water and irrigation.

What to notice

The shoreline changes with the reservoir's water level. Calabrian black pine frames much of the lake, while beech grows on nearby slopes. The Mucone river feeds the basin and continues toward the Crati. At Cupone, the former state sawmill and resin-distillation site has become a visitor centre; the surrounding woods preserve traces of the forest economy that once shaped the plateau.

Context and history

The dam was built across the Mucone in the 1950s for hydroelectric power, flooding the river valley. Cecita became part of the Sila's system of artificial basins serving energy and water needs. At nearby Cupone, forestry and resin processing continued until around 1960. The lake now remains both working infrastructure and a defining element of the plateau landscape.