Lake Massaciuccoli (Lago di Massaciuccoli in Italian) is a

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 Lucca The province of Lucca ( it, provincia di Lucca) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca. It has an area of and a total population of about 390,000. There are 33 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune'') in the pro ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

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 ...

. Its surface area is 6.9 km². It is located mainly in the municipality of

Massarosa Massarosa is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. The city is near Lucca and Pisa. The city hosts Massarosa International Piano Competition. Sister cities Massarosa is twinned with: * Gmina Łużna, Poland * Tei� ...

and partly in

Torre del Lago Torre del Lago (Tower of the Lake) is a town of almost 11,000 inhabitants, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Viareggio, in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, between the Lake of Massaciuccoli and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Festival Puccini, a ...

, a civil parish of

Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city within the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as ...

. It is one of the largest remaining fragments of the large swamps and marshes that once covered entirely the coastal plain of Versilia. The lake was known in ancient times as the ''Fossis Papirianis'', a name used in the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The m ...

. The village of

Massaciuccoli Massaciuccoli is village near Lake Massaciuccoli in the municipality of Massarosa, province of Lucca. The main historical interest is the exceptional monumental baths of the ancient Roman villa complex that belonged to the patrician Venulei ...

lies on its shore. The composer

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

lived in a villa at

on the west side of the lake, and frequently hunted around the lake; the nearby village of Torre del Lago is sometimes mentioned with suffix "Puccini" in his honour. The lake is home to the large extent of ''

Cladium mariscus ''Cladium mariscus'' is a species of flowering plant in the Cyperaceae, sedge family known by the common names swamp sawgrass, great fen-sedge, saw-sedge or sawtooth sedge. Previously it was known as elk sedge. It is native of temperate Europe an ...

'' in Italy. However, vegetation and wildlife have shrunken substantially since the 20th century, due to

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

and expansion of Louisianan Crayfish.

References

Ramsar sites in Italy {{Tuscany-geo-stub