Lake Vico (, ) is a

caldera lake A volcanic crater lake is a lake in a crater that was formed by explosive activity or a collapse during a volcanic eruption. Formation Lakes in calderas fill large craters formed by the collapse of a volcano during an eruption. Lakes in maars ...

in northern

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, central

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 one of the highest major Italian lakes, with an altitude of 510 m. Administratively, it is part of the municipalities of

Caprarola Caprarola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts. The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa ...

and

Ronciglione Ronciglione (; locally ) is a in the province of Viterbo, in the Italian region of Latium, about from Viterbo. The city is located in the Cimini mountains, over two tuff scarps, on the southeastern slope of the former volcano crater now housin ...

. The lake is surrounded by the

Cimini Hills The Monti Cimini, in English: Cimini Hills, are a range of densely wooded volcanic hills approximately north-west of Rome. They are part of the Antiapennine range, facing the Apennines main range towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. They are situated ...

, in particular by the Fogliano (965 m) and Venere (851 m) mountains. It is part of the Lake Vico Natural Reserve. According to legend, the lake was created by

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, who defied the local inhabitants by wielding his club. When he did this, a stream sprang up and formed the lake.

Geology

Lake Vico occupies the central

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

of Vico Volcano. A

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and s ...

was built up in a series of eruptions that occurred 305,000 to 258,000 years ago. Later, the eruption of voluminous

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

s, and

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

, caused the progressive collapse of the volcanic cone, which created the caldera, in which Lake Vico now lies, by about 138,000 years ago.Locardi, E. (1965) ''Tipi ignimbritici di magmi mediterranei: le ignimbriti del vulcano di Vico.'' Atti Soc. Tosc. Sci. Nat. Serie A, v. 72, pp. 55-174.Peccerillo, A. (2005) ''Plio-Quaternary Volcanism in Italy Petrology, Geochemistry, Geodynamics.'' Springer-Verlag Berlin Germany. 365 pp.

History

The Vicano river is the original outlet from Lake Vico, it flowed down the valley towards the Treja River, flowing out from the point where the caldera wall is less elevated. At an unknown time in the Roman era, the waters were made to flow into the Vicano river through an artificial conduit. This was then reactivated in the 16th century with a series of interventions carried out by the

Farnese family The House of Farnese (, also , ) was an influential family in Renaissance Italy. The titles of Duke of Parma and Piacenza, Duke of Latera and Duke of Castro were held by various members of the family. Its most important members included Po ...

. Some scholars have theorised that the lake level has been artificially lowered since the Etruscan era, but the Farnese tunnel is the only one currently known to archaeologists. It is a remarkable tunnel dug into the tuff in the Roman era with an irregular shape (to reduce the outlet pressure). The conduit, whose vault is supported by courses of bricks, receives the waters from a lock dating back to the Farnese era, runs for about 400 meters to exit on the opposite side of the mountain ridge, in the Vicano river gorge. The waters of the outflow, which have been below the threshold for a couple of years due to very low rainfall, flow out of the lake through an artificial circular-section tunnel built in the 1990s. Since ancient times, the construction of the tunnel has allowed a significant lowering of the water level, transforming part of the lake, and especially the entire northern area of the caldera (the so-called "Pantanacce") into an agricultural landscape. The geography of the lake that we can see today is therefore different from the original one: Mount Venere, born following the last phase of activity of the Vicano volcano (ended 90,000 years ago) which now rises in the northern part of the basin giving it the characteristic "horseshoe" shape, was probably a peninsula and the surface area of the body of water was almost double that which can be measured today.

Nature

The area is famous for its extensive

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forest, which is one of the most southerly in Europe. The elevation, plus the surrounding sides of the crater, create cool enough conditions for the continued survival of the trees. A large part of the northern side of the crater is a nature reserve to protect this forest.

Wildlife

An incomplete list of wildlife present in the Vico Natural Preserve include: *

Great crested grebe The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The bird is characterised by its distinctive appearance, featuring striking black, orange-brown, and white plumage, and elaborate courtship displa ...

, symbol of the preserve *

Black kite The black kite (''Milvus migrans'') is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae, although some populations have ...

Common teal The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...

Common toad The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, parts of Scandinavia, and some List ...

Common whitefish ''Coregonus lavaretus'' is a species of freshwater whitefish, in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of its genus ''Coregonus''. There are widely different concepts about the delimitation of the species ''Coregonus lavaretus'' and abou ...

Coypu The nutria () or coypu () (''Myocastor coypus'') is a herbivore, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' has since been included within Echimy ...

Eurasian badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the Family (biology), family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red L ...

Eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

Eurasian jay The Eurasian jay (''Garrulus glandarius'') is a species of passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It has pinkish brown plumage with a black stripe on each side of a whitish throat, a bright blue panel on the upper wing and a black tail. The ...

Eurasian scops owl The Eurasian scops owl (''Otus scops''), also known as the European scops owl, common scops owl or just scops owl, is a small owl in the typical owl family Strigidae. Its breeding range extends from southern Europe eastwards to southern Siberia a ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

Great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. R ...

Grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

* Herman's tortoise *

Lanner falcon The lanner falcon (''Falco biarmicus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It prefers open habitat and is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season. A l ...

Little egret The little egret (''Egretta garzetta'') is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on ...

Northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

Pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red Lis ...

Eurasian sparrowhawk The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred ...

Squacco heron The squacco heron (''Ardeola ralloides'') is a small heron, long, of which the body is , with wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East. Behaviour The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering ...

Tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

Water rail The water rail, western water rail or European water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this ...

Wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...

Eurasian wren The Eurasian wren (''Troglodytes troglodytes'') or northern wren is a very small insectivorous bird, and the only member of the wren family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia and Africa (Maghreb). In Anglophone Europe, it is commonly known simply as ...

Wild cat Felidae ( ) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestria ...

Nearby towns

Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...

Vetralla Vetralla is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in central Italy, south of that city, located on a shoulder of Monte Fogliano. History Vetralla's dominating fortified position in the heart of Etruscan territories has been contin ...

* Capranica

Footnotes

External links

Lake Vico VR panoramas at Tuscia 360
{{Authority control Vico Vico Vico Falisci Pleistocene calderas Vico