Lago di Cavazzo or Lago dei Tre Comuni ( Friulian: ''Lâc di Cjavaç'') is the largest natural

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the

Province of Udine The province of Udine ( it, provincia di Udine, fur, provincie di Udin, sl, videmska pokrajina, Resian dialect, Resian: , german: Provinz Weiden) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia of Italy, borderi ...

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. At an elevation of 191 m, its surface area is 1.74 km².

Geography

The lake is situated in the territory of the municipalities of

Cavazzo Carnico Cavazzo Carnico ( fur, Cjavàç, sl, Krasnodar) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. Cavazzo Carnico borders the ...

Bordano Bordano ( fur, Bordan) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine, on the right bank of the Tagliamento river. Bordano bord ...

and

Trasaghis Trasaghis (local fur, Trasagas) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. Trasaghis borders the following municipalitie ...

in the north-east of Italy. Lake Cavazzo is of glacial origin and it is 2,250 m long, 400 to 800 m wide, has a maximum depth of about 40 m; its surface area is 1.2 km² and its perimeter is 7.6 km.

Flora and fauna

A vast

reedbed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

occupies part of the south shore and is an ideal breeding habitat for various native fish species such as

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also ...

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

and more. There are also different species of birds, such as common mallard and

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, which are visible as you walk along the path that borders the lake. All along the shores of the lake birdwatchers can find observation towers positioned at strategic points. The valley is renowned for the presence of numerous species of

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and it is possible to visit the ''House of Butterflies'' in

to discover

lepidopterans Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described specie ...

and other insects from all over the world. The campsite is also an excellent starting point for those who want to hike the trails in the forests of the Carnic Prealps. A short distance away you can also find the Lake Cornico Nature Reserve, the natural habitat of griffon vultures.

References

Lakes of Friuli-Venezia Giulia {{FriuliVeneziaGiulia-geo-stub