Bracciano
Welcome to Lake Bracciano!
Hello everyone! Today I want to tell you about the beautiful Lake Bracciano, located in the north of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Tuscia Romana region. Are you ready to immerse yourself in a unique experience? Then follow me to discover this Italian gem!
A description of the lake
Lake Bracciano is truly special. Its surface area of 56.5 km² makes it the eighth largest lake in Italy and the second in Lazio. In addition, its depth of about 160 m makes it the sixth deepest lake in Italy. The lake has no islands and has an emissary, the Arrone River, which originates on the southeastern coast and flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea in the town of Maccarese.
The lake is surrounded by the Sabatini Mountains and its waters are evenly distributed among the territories of the municipalities of Bracciano, Anguillara Sabazia, and Trevignano Romano. Only one stretch of about 2 km of the southern shore, north of the town of Anguillara Sabazia, administratively belongs to the inter-municipal Exclave_and_enclave_in_Italy## Intercommunal_exclaves_and_enclaves of Rome Capital called Polline Martignano (Municipio Roma XV, Zone LIX).
Since 1999, Lake Bracciano has been part of a protected natural area called the Bracciano-Martignano Regional Park.
Origins and mineralogy
The lake was formed by the filling of a tectonic-volcanic depression created by the emptying of the magma chamber that fed the Sabatino Volcano. The volcanic past of the area is also confirmed by the presence of minerals near the lake. The most significant is undoubtedly cesanite, found in the geothermal field of Cesano (Rome) and defined as a type locality.
History
Neolithic Age
But Lake Bracciano is not just nature and beauty: it is also history! On the southern shore of the lake, in the locality of La Marmotta (a few hundred meters west of Anguillara), extensive underwater excavations have uncovered an important sunken Neolithic village inhabited for about five hundred years from 5700 to 5200 BC.
The village, covering an area of 25,000 m², was composed of large rectangular houses arranged in an orderly manner. The remains of the houses, together with cereal and barley seeds, bones of goats, sheep, and dogs, allow us to trace the economy and diet of the group. A diet based mainly on cereals and meats, which we still find today, in many cases, in the layers of abandonment and in the pots. A particular case of bones and cereals found in the same pot even suggests food being cooked at the moment an inexplicable flood occurred.
Conclusions
Here we are at the end of our journey to discover Lake Bracciano! I hope to have conveyed to you the beauty and uniqueness of this wonderful place that offers us not only nature and breathtaking landscapes but also a millennia-old history and culture. I recommend everyone to visit the lake at least once in their lifetime and discover this Italian gem in person. See you on the next adventure!
