The magic of Italy’s lakes lies not only in their crystal clear waters and the landscapes that surround them, but also in the legends that intertwine with their depths. From the waters tinged red to the mysterious sound of songs in the air, each lake tells a story of love, passion, and destiny. In these legends, the line between reality and myth dissolves, giving rise to tales that fascinate and envelop us like the reflection of their waters. In this article, we will explore some of the most evocative stories related to the lakes of Italy, where the fate of lost loves and forgotten curses lives on in the silence of their waters. A fascinating journey that invites us to believe that sometimes legends are truer than we imagine.
The legend of the red lake of Tovel and the princess Tresenga
In Non Valley there is a lake that was dyed red every summer and until 1964. Legend has it that it was the color of the blood of the beautiful princess Tresenga. Tresenga was the only daughter of the king of the Kingdom of Ragoli. As beautiful as she was desired, Tresenga refused every request for marriage lest the kingdom fall into foreign hands. The king of Tuenno, Lavinus, sent rich gifts but they too were refused. Angered by the affront, Lavinio declared war on the Kingdom of Ragoli to force Tresenga to marry him but the brave princess, in response, deployed at the head of her small army to confront the enemy. The clash was extremely hard and the princess resisted to the last, fighting with extreme valor, but in the end she died and her blood, spilled on the battlefield, dyed the waters of Lake Tovel. It is said that every full moon night the spirit of Tresenga still roams the area, sighing. The phenomenon, however, has a scientific explanation: the color was due to the presence of the algae “Tovellia sanguinea” which reproduced in summer, giving the lake its characteristic color.
The legend of love between Agilla and Trasimeno
On the shores of Lake Trasimeno whose shape, to the most romantic, may remind one of a heart-in the past lived the beautiful nymph Agilla, hopelessly in love with Prince Trasimeno, son of the Etruscan king Tyrrhenianus. One day, singing a persuasive song, the nymph managed to lure her beloved to the center of the lake, near the island of Polvese. At the sight of Agilla, Trasimeno fell in love. The prince struggled to convince his father to give his approval to the wedding and eventually succeeded, but their love was destined to end in tragedy. After only a day, in fact, as the beautiful Agilla watched him from the shore, Trasimeno disappeared into the waters of the lake. In vain Agilla searched for him for days on end, sounding the depths, shores and surface of the great lake basin. Ever since, the desperate nymph has been searching for her beloved, singing a persuasive song on summer evenings, hoping to find him again.
The legend of Bianca and the birth of Lake Monate
Bianca was beautiful. Her beauty was comparable to her love for her boyfriend, a soldier fighting at the front. Bianca lived with her elderly mother near Usmate. The local squire saw Bianca one day and fell in love with her, but the maiden would have none of it. This reaction aroused the wrath of the squire, who had the townspeople inform him that he would have the head of anyone who supplied Bianca with water chopped off. The brave maiden, in order to provide the daily need for water for her and her mother, went to the Monteggia springs every day, but one day her mother fell ill, and the water the beauty was able to carry was no longer enough. “I am thirsty,” complained the sick mother. At that point Bianca was forced to beg for mercy from the squire who refused, saying, “Let that witch mother of yours die thirsty.” Desperate, Bianca cast a terrible curse that condemned the squire to have an insatiable thirst for eternity. At that moment, a strong wind arose, unleashing a very violent hurricane, and so much water began to pour out of the castle well that it flooded the manor and all the adjacent lands. When the hurricane subsided, Lake Monate had formed on those moors. Today no one dares to cross its eddies…. They are said to be formed by the cursed castellan who, from the bottom of the lake, cannot quench his thirst.
