L'Alpe 18 - “Mari” delle Alpi

Water and rock. The pre-Alpine lakes fully express the sense of opposition between "sea" and mountain, because they bring together water and rock, horizontal and vertical, blue of "earth" and blue of sky in limited spaces. Although they resemble small seas, bathable and navigable, they are in all respects part of the Alpine universe, north and south of the chain. Reality and myth of stilt houses: it is not true that in the lakes of the Alps and Pre-Alps the habitation took place on the water. Just as it is not true that the "pile-dwellings" or lacustres were a civilization in themselves. Lake spaces in the Middle Ages: in the late Middle Ages the pre-Alpine lakes constituted a crucial interconnection element between the Alpine valleys, the piedmont cities and the plain. Garda, «The southernmost scenery north of Naples»: only at the end of the 19th century was Garda ready «to rival the most crowded resorts of Lake Maggiore and Lake Como». Navigating the Alps: the furrows of the Alps have been navigated since prehistoric times, exploiting those waters that allowed movement with the greatest advantage and the least effort. Professional fishing on Lombardy lakes: much of their work takes place at sunset or at night until dawn. For this reason they can be defined as "invisible men". Living in fresh water: blue expanses between green backdrops of mountains and gardens, the large pre-Alpine lakes are vast natural basins that are home to an exceptional biodiversity of vertebrates: fish. Benaco, the sea in the Alps: Garda is the lake most requested by holidaymakers. But there are two lakes: the "sea" of Desenzano and Sirmione and the alpine fjord of Riva del Garda. Two lakes, two worlds. Lario, the ungrateful memory of the land of iron: the absence of a border between the mountains and the residential centres, the exaggerated urban development, are some of the characteristics of the Lecco side of Lake Como. The pocket submarine of Lake Lugano: lake smuggling on the border between Italy and Switzerland has always been the order of the day. But in February 1948… The eleven islands of Verbano: neither sea nor mountain, but first and foremost a lake, Maggiore owes its fortune to the charm of the islands and coastal towns. The two waters of Lake Geneva: «We take the boat, we cross the twelve kilometers of fresh water that separate us from the no less sweet waters of France. We disembark in Évian...".