The Lago di Lentini, also called Biviere, is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

near

Lentini Lentini (; ; ; ) is a town and in the Province of Syracuse, southeastern Sicily (Southern Italy), located 35 km (22 miles) north-west of Syracuse. History The city was founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 729 BC, which in its beginning ...

in the

Province of Syracuse The province of Syracuse (; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Its capital was the city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse, a town established by Greeks, Greek colonists arriving from Corinth in the ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is the largest lake on the island.

History

The origin of the lake is attributed to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

between the end of the 12th and the start of the 13th century. They blocked the bed of the river Trigona-Galici before it merged into the river San Leonardo so as to create a space for hunting and fishing. During the 19th century, increased attention was paid to the fact that the lake was the cause of the spread of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

during warm seasons. Therefore, a process of reclamation was started in the 20th century and the lake was dried out in the 1930s. The reclamation continued for about 30 years and the lake disappeared in the 1970s. In the late 1970s, the lake was rebuilt using the public fund

Cassa per il Mezzogiorno The Cassa del Mezzogiorno () was a public effort by the government of Italy to stimulate economic growth and development in the less developed Southern Italy (also known as the ''Mezzogiorno''). It was established in 1950 primarily to encourage the ...

. The new lake is smaller but deeper and has become rich in vegetation and fauna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lentini Lakes of Sicily

History

Further reading

References