List of lakes of Italy

Lake Garda, the largest lake of Italy

The following is a list of lakes of Italy. The lakes of Italy can be distinguished, depending on their location within the national territory, between pre-alpine, north-western, Apennine, Sicilian and Sardinian, in addition to lagoons and coastal lakes. They are generally named after the surrounding towns and often their capacity has been increased with the construction of dams, in order to create large water reserves to be used for the production of electricity. There are more than 1000 lakes in Italy,[1] the largest of which is Garda (370 km2 or 143 sq mi).

The pre-alpine lakes are the largest and most important because they constitute capacious basins, in which the alpine rivers restrain their impetus and purify their waters, depositing the transported materials. They also affect the local climate, mitigating it. Their waters fill the bottom of long valleys that flow into the Po Valley. They are deep valleys, carved by glaciers, which once descended to the foot of the Alpine chain. Generally, their emissary rivers then flow into the Po River.

There are also lakes along the Italian coasts. They were formed by the wave motion of the sea, which, first of all in the inlets, accumulated sandy shores and dune strings, which closed the waters behind. In this way, the old marine inlets have been transformed into lakes.

Lakes with an area >10 km2 (3.9 sq mi)

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Lake Maggiore
Lake Como
Lake Trasimeno
Lake Region Area Elevation Maximum
depth
Lake Garda (Lago di Garda) Lombardy, Trentino/South Tyrol, Veneto 370 km2 (140 sq mi) 65 m (213 ft) 346 m (1,135 ft)
Lake Maggiore (Lago Maggiore) Lombardy, Piedmont, Ticino (Switzerland) 210 km2 (81 sq mi) 194 m (636 ft) 372 m (1,220 ft)
Lake Como (Lago di Como) Lombardy 146 km2 (56 sq mi) 198 m (650 ft) 410 m (1,350 ft)
Lake Trasimeno (Lago Trasimeno) Umbria 124 km2 (48 sq mi) 257 m (843 ft) 7 m (23 ft)
Lake Bolsena (Lago di Bolsena) Lazio 114 km2 (44 sq mi) 305 m (1,001 ft) 151 m (495 ft)
Lake Iseo (Lago d'Iseo) Lombardy 65.3 km2 (25.2 sq mi) 186 m (610 ft) 251 m (823 ft)
Lake Bracciano (Lago di Bracciano) Lazio 56.7 km2 (21.9 sq mi) 160 m (520 ft) 165 m (541 ft)
Lake Lugano (Lago di Lugano) Lombardy, Ticino (Switzerland) 48.7 km2 (18.8 sq mi) 271 m (889 ft) 288 m (945 ft)
Lake Omodeo (Lago Omodeo) Sardinia 29 km2 (11 sq mi) 118 m (387 ft) 59.55 m (195.4 ft)
Lake Orta (Lago d'Orta) Piedmont 18.2 km2 (7.0 sq mi) 290 m (950 ft) 144 m (472 ft)
Lake Coghinas (Lago Coghinas) Sardinia 17.8 km2 (6.9 sq mi) 164 m (538 ft) 50 m (160 ft)
Lake Varese (Lago di Varese) Lombardy 14.9 km2 (5.8 sq mi) 238 m (781 ft) 26 m (85 ft)
Lake Vico (Lago di Vico) Lazio 12.1 km2 (4.7 sq mi) 510 m (1,670 ft) 48.5 m (159 ft)
Lake Idro (Lago d'Idro) Lombardy 10.9 km2 (4.2 sq mi) 368 m (1,207 ft) 122 m (400 ft)

Alphabetical

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1930s travel poster advertising lakes of Italy

A

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B

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Italian pre-alpine lakes

C

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Lake Bolsena
Lake Iseo

D

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Lake Bracciano

E

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F

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Lake Lugano

G

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Lake Omodeo

I

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L

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Lake Orta

M

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Lake Coghinas
Lake Varese

N

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Lake Vico

O

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Lake Idro

P

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Q

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R

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S

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T

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V

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Z

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Antonio Londrillo (2004). Alla scoperta della mia regione (in Italian). Bulgarini. p. 28. ISBN 88-234-2327-9.
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