Italian village emerges from lake after being submerged for 70 years

A little village that had been submerged by Lake Resia, in a town in northern Italy near the borders of Austria and Switzerland, has reemerged after being under water for 71 years.

The village that drowned

The lake in question was most notably known for famously having a church steeple rising from the water. After being temporarily drained, the village of Curon, which at one point inhabited hundreds of people, has come back to life.

The village was flooded in 1950 by Lake Resia in order to build a dam to help with the construction of a hydroelectric plant. But in order to be able to do so, the gap between two nearby lakes had to be bridged by artificially creating a new lake in the centre.

After much dispute between residents and authorities, the inhabitants of the village had to be displaced to neighbouring villages—some of which were created to house the residents of Curon—before submerging more than 160 homes.

The only thing remaining from the village after the flooding was the scenic-looking steeple of a 14th-century church rising from the crystal blue icy waters with the foreground of distant purple mountains.

A sight to be seen

As a result, it has become a staple tourist attraction for travellers in that area of Italy who during the winter are able to walk across the frozen lake to get up-close to the erect bell tower.

But since the temporary draining due to repairs needed on a reservoir, tourists have been given the chance to explore the exposed ruins, with many having recently been able to take pictures of 70 years worth of eroded stone steps, cellars and walls.

The site has been used as inspiration for a book and an Italian Netflix supernatural thriller series fittingly called Curon centred on the mysteries surrounding the underwater village and its lake.