| Alento Dam and LakeThe dam over the river Alento was planned in the 80s. Projects to
build a dam with hydroelectric purposes already existed since 1932, but
they had never been carried out.
The dam is situated in location Pian della Rocca, in the Municipality of Prignano Cilento.
The building of the dam began in 1984 and ended in 1994.
It
is a work of considerable size, made with earth, with a height of 43
meters and a width of 420 meters from bank to bank. The volume of the
earth embankment is of about 1,500,000 cubic meters.
Along the dam crown, a 600-meter long and 8-meter wide road was built.
The barrage led to the creation of a big artificial lake covering an
area of about 1.5 square kilometers and with a length of 3 kilometers,
extending in a landscape rich in woodlands and olive groves.
The drainage basin interested by the dam and the lake covers an area of
over 100 square kilometers. The lake has a capacity of 26 million cubic
meters and the possibility to provide a minimum quantity of 34 million
cubic meters of water per year, which is mainly accumulated in autumn,
winter, and spring.
Further information (Italian text)
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The WetlandsA trail leaves from the recreational map downstream the dam: this trail
runs along the river and on foot, by bike or on horseback lead the
visitors to the wetlands created by Consorzio Velia in order to improve
the environmental quality of the area.
The wetlands mainly consist
in ponds and small lakes created to enable the stop and nesting of
birds, the settlement of animal species linked to the wetlands, like
amphibians, reptiles, fish, but also mammals like the otter.
The
stretches of water have various depth to welcome species with different
ecological needs: from ponds of a few centimeters of depth where we
will see herons and other Ardeids, dabbling ducks, and limicolous
species to a 1,5 meter deep lake where coots and diving ducks stop and
where the otter can settle.
All the areas are equipped with bird watching huts, in order to observe birds without disturbing them.
Further information (Italian text)
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Velia Archaeological SiteVelia, the ancient Elea - town of the Magna Graecia - was founded in
the 6th century BC near the mouth of the river Alento by Phocaean
people coming from Asia Minor to escape from Cyrus' army. It is the
birth place of the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, teacher of
Zenon who was born in Velia too, and of the Eleatic school, reference
point of the ancient philosophic culture. Velia entered the Roman orbit
in 272 BC and became municipium in the 1st century BC. It was then
destroyed by the Saracens in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Further information (Italian text)
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