Remains of 'lost' village emerge from Italian lake after 71 years

A ‘lost’ village has emerged from the depths of a lake in Italy after 71 years. The village was submerged to create a hydroelectric plant.

Curon, a former alpine village in Italy’s northeastern South Tyrol, was flooded by authorities to become a reservoir in 1950 – despite objections from its hundreds of residents.

A damn was built to merge two natural lakes and create the power generating site, causing the village to be covered by Lake Resia in the process.

Around 163 homes were lost to the lake bed and only the 14th-Century church tower remained visible on the water’s surface – creating a striking landmark that has become a tourist attraction.

Now decades later repairs at the site have seen the past dredged up, as the reservoir has been temporarily drained revealing the eerie remains of Curon, which borders Austria and Switzerland.

Photos show tourists and locals once again walking on the remains of steps, walls and cellars at the former settlement.

Some 400 people displaced from the village in 1950 settled nearby forming a new village. The remaining 600 are thought to have moved away.

It is reported that locals were initially told that the lake would only be five meters deep, leaving some homes above the water.

However a sign posted in the village in 1940 – that was written in Italian, not spoken by locals – is said to have then backtracked on that promise, informing residents it would instead be 22 meters deep, The Times reports.

South Tyrol, once part of Austria, was annexed to Italy following the First World War and German remains many people’s first language in the region.