Towns Of Umbria: Trasimeno Lake

Trasimeno lake, Submerged By Waves, For The Potent Ardour Of The Unbridled Nymph You Bestowed Your Name To The Lake,' Is The Way Matteo Dall'isola Recounts The Mythological Origins Of The Lake in His 'trasimenide'. in The Lake There Are Three Islands Where You Can Find Traces Of a Long Past And Footprints Of Great Personages. Like a Chinese Puzzle, One Of The Most Enchanting Corners Of The Region Reveals Itself Where The Element Of Water Unites Until Merging With The Air. Where Legend And Reality Blend. Where The Constant Work Of Nature And That Of Man Have Contributed To The Thousand-year History Of Trasimeno Lake, a Long Fishing And Game Reserve. This Tells Us The Lady Of Trasimeno Who High Up On Fontana Maggiore Beside Madonna Perugia Still Watches Over The City. Br It Is The Largest Lake in Central Italy At 258 Metres Above The Sea, An Area Of 128 Square Kilometres, With a Maximum Depth Of 6 Metres, Almost Circular With Alluvial Deposits And Rich in Vegetation. Alluvial in Origin in The Sense That It Is The Residual Of The Ancient Pliocene Basin That Remained Isolated After The Surrounding Zones Rose Because Of Tectonic Movements. The Name Trasimeno Is From An Etruscan Legend. As Far Back As The Time Of Emperor Claudius There Were Attempts To Control Water Levels And Drain The Marshes; The Only Advantage Was That The Barbarians Didn't Stay Long, Preferring To Attack Cities Instead. It Was Continually Changing Hands Between The Perugians, Those Of Chiusi And The People Of Arezzo, As It Was a Strategic Lake Between Major Centres. in 1422 Braccio Fortebraccio From Montone, The Lord Of Perugia, Constructed a New Drain And Seventy Years Later Pope Innocent Viii Diverted Two Tributaries But Nevertheless It Continued To Flood. Even Leonardo da Vinci Drew Up a Plan For The Whole Region, But Unfortunately It Remained An Elaborate Design Only On Paper. By 1602 It Seemed That The Water Level Had Risen By About 4 Metres. Politically, The Whole Territory Was Now Under The Rule Of The Pope. But Squabbling Continued Between Tuscany And The Church. Napoleon Declared The Whole Territory a Department Of The Roman Republic Of 1798 And Then Of The Empire. After The Unification Of Italy a Drainage Committee Was Set Up Which in 1898 Constructed Another Drain To Divert The Course Of The Small River Càina Toward The Tiber. These Days The Problem Is More The Reverse, While in 1959 The Water Level Seems To Have Receded About 3 Metres. An Artificial Tributary Was Built To Bring The Flow Of Four Small Rivers Into The Lake And The Situation Has Improved. However, Insufficient Rain And Deposits Made By The Tributaries Mean The Water Level Continues To Drop. The Problems Are Still There Today, While a Part Of The Lake Is a Protected Aquatic Park. The Circumference Is 60 Kilometres, Dotted By Several Picturesque Towns, As Well As The Islands Serviced By Public And Private Boats. Br B Isola Polvese -b Is The Largest Of The Islands (54 Hectares) And Is An Environmental Educational And Study Centre. It Has Remains Of Forts And 2 Medieval Churches And Is The Old Seat Of The Monks Olivetani. There Is Also a Beach, a Restaurant And Some Tourist Services. Its Circumference Is 3 Kilometres And On Its Shore Are 9 Different Varieties Of Mediterranean Trees. Br B Isole Maggiore e Minore -b Maggiore Is Where San Francesco Stayed in 1211. in The Chapel It Tells Of His Landing And in Another That The Saint Built It For Shelter. The Castle Of The Gugliemi Family Is Next To The Church Of San Michele Arcangelo Which Has Frescoes From The 13th And 15th Centuries. The Isola Minore Is Private And Uninhabited. It Is a Hunting Reserve.