The Lago di Mezzola is a small lake in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, measuring .

Geography

It lies between the Pian di Spagna to the south, which divides it from

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

and is an ecologically important wetland habitat, and the Piano di Chiavenna to the north, which leads up to

Chiavenna Chiavenna (; ; ; or ; archaic or ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine Valchiavenna region. The historic town is a member of the Cittaslow movement. Geo ...

. Both are crossed by the river Mera which is Lago di Mezzola's most important inflow, as well as its sole outflow, and which connects it to Lake Como. The lake has two further inflows, the Codera, which runs through the Val Codera before entering the lake at

Novate Mezzola Novate Mezzola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about west of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,713 ...

, and the

Ratti Ratti may refer to: * Ratti (unit), traditional Indian unit of mass measurement * Ratti Gali Lake, an alpine glacial lake located in Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan * Ratti (surname), Italian surname * Ratti family, Italian family {{disambigu ...

which runs through the Valle dei Ratti and enters the lake a little to the south at

Verceia Verceia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about west of Sondrio. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,101 and an area of .All demographics an ...

. The Lago di Mezzola and the Pian di Spagna together make up the Riserva Naturale Pian di Spagna e Lago di Mezzola. Formerly this area was part of the northern branch of Lake Como, which extended as far north as

Samolaco Samolaco ( or ''Samolagh'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of the regional capital Milan and about northwest of Sondrio. As of 31 December 2005, it had a population ...

, known in antiquity as (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Head of the Lake"). Subsequently, the frequent flooding of the Adda deposited

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

and formed the Pian di Spagna, thus separating the two lakes. The lakeside settlements include Novate Mezzola to the north, Verceia, San Fedele and Bocca d'Adda (once the mouth of the Adda) on the eastern shore, and Dascio and Albonico, (both ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of the commune of

Sorico Sorico (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,188 and an area of .All ...

) to the west. The 10th-century lakeside Tempietto di San Fedelino, is near the northern shore.

Fauna

The many fish in the lake include

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a freshwater, fresh- and brackish water, brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including Great Britain, Britain and Ireland east into Asia as far ...

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

and

rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. The fishes in this genus are commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without ...

References

{{Authority control Mezzola Province of Sondrio Province of Como Ramsar sites in Italy