Lake Albano (Italian: ''Lago Albano'' or ''Lago di Castel Gandolfo'') is a small

volcanic crater lake A volcanic crater lake is a lake in a crater that was formed by explosive activity or a collapse during a volcanic eruption. Formation Lakes in calderas fill large craters formed by the collapse of a volcano during an eruption. Lakes in maars ...

in the

Alban Hills The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the hi ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, at the foot of Monte Cavo, southeast of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Castel Gandolfo Castel Gandolfo (, , ; la, Castrum Gandulphi), colloquially just Castello in the Castelli Romani dialects, is a town located southeast of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy. Occupying a height on the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, Castel G ...

, overlooking the lake, is the site of the

Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo The Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo, or the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo from its Italian name Palazzo Apostolico di Castel Gandolfo, is a 135-acre (54.6-ha) complex of buildings in a garden setting in the city of Castel Gandolfo, Italy ...

. It hosted the

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...

and

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

events of the 1960 Summer Olympic Games that were held in Rome. The lane marking system developed for these events is commonly referred to as the Albano buoy system.

History and geology

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

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latin city in Central Italy, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it wa ...

. With a depth of about , Lake Albano is the deepest in Lazio. The lake is long by 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 . Plutarch reports that in 406BC 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. The ensuing flood destroyed fields and vineyards before eventually pouring into the sea. It is thought to have been 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.

Drainage tunnel

Around 395BC, during the wars between Rome and

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan civilization, Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the Comuni of the Province of Rome, comune ...

, a discharge tunnel was built crossing the crater walls. It served as an emissary whenever the water level overflowed its mouth. According to Titus Livius, this feat of engineering was incited by the

Oracle of Delphi Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness ...

: the Roman victory against Veii would be possible only when the lake waters were channeled and used for irrigation. The emissary is at 293 meters over the sea level. The tunnel (1200 m long, 1,20 m wide and 2 m high) ends at a spot called Le Mole, below Castel Gandolfo, where the water flow drove multiple watermills.

Lake Albanus in Roman Myth

During the war with

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 on the siege of

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 remain high Veii would be impregnable to the Romans. If the waters of the lake were scattered in an inland direction on the other hand Veii would fall; but if they were to overflow through the usual streams or channels toward the sea this fact would be unfavourable to the Romans as well. Dumézil ascribed this story to the Roman custom of projecting religious legendary heritage onto history, considering it as a festival myth, aimed at giving relevance to an exceptional event which would have happened during the Neptunalia. This legend would show 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 recommended by Palladius and Columella at the time of the ''canicula'', when the waters are at their lowest.G. Dumezil ''Mythe et epopee'' III ''Histoires romaines'' Paris 1973 p. 21 as cited by Bloch p. 346. Image:Schedrin Albano.jpg, Painting by

Sylvester Shchedrin Sylvester Feodosiyevich Shchedrin (russian: Сильвестр Феодосиевич Щедрин; 13 February 17918 November 1830) was a Russian landscape painter. Biography Sylvester Shchedrin was born in St. Petersburg into the family o ...

, before 1825 File:George Inness - Lake Albano - Google Art Project.jpg, Lake Albano,

George Inness George Inness (May 1, 1825 – August 3, 1894) was a prominent American landscape painter. Now recognized as one of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced by the Hudson River School at the s ...

, 1869 Image:Lago albano castelgandolfo roma italy.JPG, Panoramic view Castel Gandolfo.jpg, View of the lake showing

References

Bibliography

Britannica.com
(retrieved: 12 March 2009)

(retrieved: 12 March 2009) *The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition , Date: 2008 , The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press (retrieved: 12 March 2009) {{Coord, 41, 45, 0, N, 12, 39, 54, E, type:waterbody_region:IT, display=title Castelli Romani Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeing venues Olympic rowing venues Albano, Lake of Albano, Lake Albano, Lake Alba Longa