Lake Albano

In Roman times, it was known as Albanus Lacus and lay not far from the ancient city of Alba Longa.

With a depth of about {{convert|170|m|ft|abbr=on}}, Lake Albano is the deepest in Lazio. The lake is {{convert|3.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|2.3|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide, and was formed by the overlapping union of two volcanic craters, an origin indicated by the ridge in its center, which rises to a height of {{convert|70|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Plutarch reports that in 406{{nbsp}}BC the lake surged over the surrounding hills, despite there being no rain nor tributaries flowing into the lake to account for the rise in water level.{{Citation|last1=Plutarch|title=Life of Camillus|publisher=Internet Classics Archive (MIT)|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/camillus.html|access-date=4 February 2014|author1-link=Plutarch}} The ensuing flood destroyed fields and vineyards before eventually pouring into the sea. It is thought to have been a limnic eruption caused by volcanic gases, trapped in sediment at the bottom of the lake and gradually building up until suddenly releasing, causing the water to overflow.{{Citation|last1=Woodward|first1=Jamie |title=The Physical Geography of the Mediterranean|date=7 May 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press (Oxford)|isbn=9780191608414|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B09cbd0L0pwC&pg=PT651|access-date=23 October 2015}}

Around 395{{nbsp}}BC, during the wars between Rome and Veii, a discharge tunnel was built crossing the crater walls.

It served as an emissary to control flooding of the lake, and was a gigantic work given the modest means of the time. It is said that it was built by 30,000 men.

The tunnel is 1350 m long, 1.20 m wide and 2 m high. Five vertical access shafts are known and it runs 128 m below the surface.Graziano Nisio, Dalla leggendaria Alba Longa a Castel Gandolfo, Castel Gandolfo, Il Vecchio Focolare, 2008. pp. 83–85 The exit was originally 13 m below the level of the lake, but today it is higher due to the lowering of the level. It begins about 500 m beyond the nymphaeum of Bergantino, and comes out on the other side in the Mole di Castel Gandolfo locality, where the water flow drove multiple watermills.Carla Galeazzi, Carlo Germani, Luigi Casciotti, "The drainage tunnel of Lake Albano (Rome, Italy) and the 3-years study program "Project Albanus": a progress report", Proceedings of the International Congress of Speleology in Artificial Cavities, Rome, March 2015, {{doi|10.13140/RG.2.1.4011.4007}}

According to Titus Livius, this feat of engineering was incited by the Oracle of Delphi: the Roman victory against Veii would be possible only when the lake waters were channeled and used for irrigation.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, V. 15–16.

{{Main|Marcus Furius Camillus}}

During Rome's war with Veii in 393 BC, the level of Lake Albano rose to an unusual height even in the absence of rain. This prodigy was believed to be relevant to the siege of Veii because a haruspex from Veii recited some lines of a prophecy that illustrated the relationship between the level of its waters and either the safety or the fall of the town to the Romans. It foretold that as long as the waters of the lake remained high, Veii would be impregnable to the Romans. If the waters of the lake were scattered in an inland direction, Veii would fall; but if they were to overflow through the usual streams or channels toward the sea, this would be unfavourable to the Romans as well.Livy V 15–16. Cicero De Divinatione I 44 ff.

Dumézil ascribed this story to the Roman custom of projecting religious legendary heritage onto history, considering it to be a festival myth aimed at giving relevance to an exceptional event which would have happened during the Neptunalia. This legend showed the scope of the powers hidden in waters and the religious importance of their control by man: Veientans too knowing the fact had been digging channels for a long time as recent archaeological finds confirm. There is a temporal coincidence between the conjuration of the prodigy and the works of derivation{{huh|date=October 2023}} recommended by Palladius and Columella at the time of the canicula, when the waters are at their lowest.{{cite book |author=Georges Dumézil |title=Mythe et epopee |volume=III Histoires romaines |location=Paris |year=1973 |page=21}} Cited by Bloch p. 346.

Image:Schedrin Albano.jpg|Painting by Sylvester Shchedrin, before 1825

File:George Inness - Lake Albano - Google Art Project.jpg|Lake Albano, George Inness, 1869

Image:Lago albano castelgandolfo roma italy.JPG|Panoramic view

Castel Gandolfo.jpg|View of the lake showing Castel Gandolfo

• Historic centre of Albano Laziale

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12563/Lake-Albano Britannica.com] (retrieved: 12 March 2009)
• {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130408062729/http://www.italiantourism.com/lakes10.html Italian Tourism – Lakes]}} (retrieved: 12 March 2009)
• The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press (retrieved: 12 March 2009)

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{{1960 Summer Olympic venues}}

{{Olympic venues canoeing}}

{{Olympic venues rowing}}

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{{Coord|41|45|0|N|12|39|54|E|type:waterbody_region:IT|display=title}}

Category:Castelli Romani

Category:Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics

Category:Olympic canoeing venues

Category:Olympic rowing venues

Albano, Lake of

Albano, Lake

Albano, Lake

Category:Alba Longa