Campanile di Curon Venosta Vecchia

A slender medieval bell tower rises from the middle of Lake Reschen — the sole visible remnant of Alt-Graun, a South Tyrolean village forcibly flooded in 1950 to expand a hydroelectric reservoir. Around 163 families were displaced under a project that had been planned since the Fascist era; the church itself was demolished, yet the tower was left standing, its exact preservation a detail historians still debate. In winter, when the lake freezes solid, visitors can walk across the ice to its base — an eerie, memorable approach that draws photographers from across Europe. A well-marked lakeside circuit offers shifting angles on the tower against the backdrop of the Vinschgau Alps, and the lake is popular for summer swimming and dog walks. The site carries a weight well beyond its physical remains: it has become a quiet monument to displacement and collective loss.