Lake Bracciano

The lake fills a volcanic caldera about six kilometres across and is one of the cleanest large lakes in central Italy, because it feeds an aqueduct supplying Rome and combustion engines on the water are prohibited; sailing, windsurfing and swimming are the result. Three towns sit on the rim. Bracciano is dominated by the Odescalchi castle, a fifteenth-century fortress with round towers still owned privately and used for events, including the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Anguillara Sabazia occupies a small headland with a stepped old centre; Trevignano faces the far shore below its ruined rocca.

Background

The lake lies 32 km northwest of Rome and is the second largest in Lazio after Lake Bolsena, covering 56.76 square kilometres with a maximum depth of 165 metres. It formed through intense volcanic and tectonic activity between 600,000 and 40,000 years ago, when the collapse of a magma chamber under the present lake left the hollow it fills. Water from the hills above went to Rome through the Aqua Traiana, dedicated in 109 CE and restored by Pope Paul V in the early 17th century. At La Marmotta, near Anguillara Sabazia, lie the remains of a village of the Early Neolithic, dated to 5700 BC and now buried in mud offshore.

Source: Wikipedia, "Lake Bracciano"

The landscape

• The motorless water - engines banned, so sailing and swimming dominate.
• Odescalchi castle - a private fifteenth-century fortress above Bracciano.
• Anguillara Sabazia - a stepped old town on a headland over the lake.
• The crater rim - a circular volcanic basin with three lakeside towns.

When to go

May to September for swimming and sailing; the shore is quiet outside summer and many lakeside places close. Weekends bring Roman crowds.

Practical notes

Beaches are dark volcanic sand and pebble, not classic seaside. Castle access depends on private events. Public transport around the rim is limited.

Nearby

Cerveteri lies west; Lake Vico is north.

Key facts