Resia and the Curon bell tower: the story of a company that destroyed a town

On the border with Austria, Resia is a fraction of the municipality of Curon Venosta, known for its lake, the largest in Trentino. The landscape is very suggestive and known above all for the presence of a Romanesque bell tower that rises from the water, the only testimony of an ancient town. The bell tower belonged to the church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, in Curon Vecchia, completely submerged for the creation of the lake. The lake was in fact created artificially after the Second World War for hydroelectric purposes, with the construction of the dam, which is still present and also practicable. The pre-existing lakes of Resia and Mezzo were united and this caused the submergence of the inhabited center of Curon Vecchia and a part of that of Resia. The only survivor, together with the church of Sant'Anna, is the bell tower. In the first case the bell tower was spared because it is ancient and monumental, in the second case it is a matter of luck because the church is located on a hill. At the time, the families were forced to leave the town and move to what subsequently became today's Curon Venosta. A place with a great tourist vocation, in Curon, you can visit a civic museum that tells the story of the destruction and reconstruction in detail. From Resia you can start on a path that arrives at the source of the Adige.