Lake Piediluco: The Umbrian Mirror of Water Nobody Looks For

Tourists who come to the Marmore Falls rarely continue for another three kilometres to Piediluco. It is an oversight that benefits lovers of silence: the lake that opens suddenly among the Apennine hills, with the small fishing village reflected in the still water, is one of the most serene landscapes in southern Umbria.

Umbria's second lake

Lake Piediluco is Umbria's second-largest lake after Trasimeno, but it is natural, of tectonic origin, and its elongated shape between wooded cliffs gives it the appearance of a miniature fjord. The waters are fed by the artificial canal that carries the Velino — which then plunges down at Marmore — and reach a maximum depth of 18 metres. The clarity of the water is proverbial among locals.

Herons, grebes, and ospreys

The lake is an extraordinary reservoir of biodiversity. The ponds and reeds of the northern bays host colonies of grey herons, great crested grebes, coots, and mallards. In spring and autumn, ospreys and kingfishers appear, and in the early morning hours the lake becomes a theatre of sounds and movements that no guidebook has yet discovered. The birdwatchers who come here — few — do so with the same pride as those guarding a secret.

Rowing and lake life

Piediluco is the traditional home of Italian rowing: the Circolo Canottieri Piediluco is one of the oldest in Italy, and regional regattas bring life on spring and summer weekends without turning the lake into an amusement park. You can rent a rowing boat for a few hours and circumnavigate the roughly 9-kilometre perimeter among oak and chestnut woods that plunge into the water.

The village and the fortress

The little village of Piediluco — a few hundred souls — has a fourteenth-century church and the remains of a medieval fortress on the hilltop. Lakeside restaurants serve freshwater fish: whitefish, tench, perch, and eel. Piediluco is 12 kilometres from Terni, reachable by car in twenty minutes.