Medieval Italian village may resurface in 2021

Publish date: 2022-02-11

The waters of Lake Vagli in Tuscany are the hiding place of a medieval village. Plans are now being made to reveal this site once again in 2021.

Media from Italy and around the world have been reporting that the waters of Lake Vagli, a man-made reservoir, will be drained next year, which would expose the village of Fabbriche di Careggine. This village was founded around the year 1270 by blacksmiths and existed for hundreds of years as a small mining community. However, in 1946 the creation of a hydro-electric dam forced the village to be abandoned, with its 150 residents being moved to the nearby town of Vagli Sotto.

Lorenza Giorgi, a local resident, was the first to report that municipal officials were working with the dam operators to have the lake drained in 2021, which would allow tourists to explore the ruins of Fabbriche di Careggine. This has happened on four previous occasions – in the years 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994 – because of maintenance work on the dam. On the last occasion about a million visitors came to see the ruins, which include homes, a bridge, cemetery and church.

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There’s a medieval Village in the mountains of Central Italy that is submerged by a lake since 1940s. Its name is Fabbriche di Careggine and is located in the province of Lucca, in Tuscany. 🇮🇹 It seems that next year it will be visible again: this will be an incredible sight and will attract lots of tourists from all over the world. Discover more on @lonelyplanet #travel #italy #tuscany #discoveritaly #discovertuscany #lucca #fabbrichedicareggine #tourmeon

A post shared by Tourmeon (@tourmeonuae) on May 30, 2020 at 7:28am PDT

Top Image: The village of Fabbriche di Careggine during its 1994 emergence. Photo by Robyfra1 / Wikimedia Commons

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