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Uria the submerged city in Apulia Varano's Lake
Have you ever made an excursion to Lake Varano, perhaps on board the ‘sandal’, the typical local boat? Have you?
If the Gargano is your next holiday destination, plan a day to get to know this fascinating Gargano lagoon, the largest in southern Italy, whose origins are lost in history and legend.
The lake is located on the northern coast of the Gargano, a short distance from Albergo Il Giardino: only 2 km as the crow flies. Commonly referred to as a lake, it is actually a lagoon, separated from the Adriatic Sea by a thin strip of land but communicating with the sea at two points, the mouth of Varano to the east and the mouth of Capojale to the west.
What will strike you during your tour of Lake Varano is first of all the landscape: an immense sheet of silent water, the blue of the water contrasting with the green of the surrounding countryside where imposing centuries-old olive trees stand out and seem almost to embrace the lake. And then that Crucifix emerging from the water near the eastern shore of the lake where, on a small hill, stands a charming little church. It is the Church of the SS. Annunziata, where a precious 14th-century crucifix is kept, venerated by the inhabitants of the three Gargano municipalities bathed by the lake (Ischitella, Cagnano Varano and Carpino).
What makes this already extraordinary place even more fascinating, however, is also a legend that has been handed down from generation to generation for more than a millennium. It is the legend of the mythical Uriah.
It is said that long ago, where Lake Varano now stands, there was a town, called ‘Uriah’. Ruling over the town was King Tauro, an evil and wicked man as well as his people. For this reason, according to legend, God, annoyed by the sins and wickedness of the inhabitants of Uriah, decided to punish them by pouring a devastating flood over the town. So it was that one night, after a great feast, a violent cloudburst came down on the town and flooded the entire city. No one was saved from that cataclysm, except Nunzia, a humble girl who lived far from the town and spent her days devoting herself only to prayer and work.
That night Nunzia was curling up her weaving thread when she saw the water advancing closer and closer to the door of her little house. Instinctively she threw the ball of yarn she was holding into the water and shouted ‘My son, stop here!’. The story goes that the water stopped right where the ball of yarn had fallen. The next morning, the town of Uriah had disappeared, and in its place Nunzia, the only survivor of the catastrophe, found the placid waters of a lake, Lake Varano.
Even today, some local fishermen tell of hearing, on full moon nights, the sound of the bells of the ancient city of Uriah.
[Illustration by Rocco Romondia].
If the Gargano is your next holiday destination, plan a day to get to know this fascinating Gargano lagoon, the largest in southern Italy, whose origins are lost in history and legend.
The lake is located on the northern coast of the Gargano, a short distance from Albergo Il Giardino: only 2 km as the crow flies. Commonly referred to as a lake, it is actually a lagoon, separated from the Adriatic Sea by a thin strip of land but communicating with the sea at two points, the mouth of Varano to the east and the mouth of Capojale to the west.
What will strike you during your tour of Lake Varano is first of all the landscape: an immense sheet of silent water, the blue of the water contrasting with the green of the surrounding countryside where imposing centuries-old olive trees stand out and seem almost to embrace the lake. And then that Crucifix emerging from the water near the eastern shore of the lake where, on a small hill, stands a charming little church. It is the Church of the SS. Annunziata, where a precious 14th-century crucifix is kept, venerated by the inhabitants of the three Gargano municipalities bathed by the lake (Ischitella, Cagnano Varano and Carpino).
What makes this already extraordinary place even more fascinating, however, is also a legend that has been handed down from generation to generation for more than a millennium. It is the legend of the mythical Uriah.
It is said that long ago, where Lake Varano now stands, there was a town, called ‘Uriah’. Ruling over the town was King Tauro, an evil and wicked man as well as his people. For this reason, according to legend, God, annoyed by the sins and wickedness of the inhabitants of Uriah, decided to punish them by pouring a devastating flood over the town. So it was that one night, after a great feast, a violent cloudburst came down on the town and flooded the entire city. No one was saved from that cataclysm, except Nunzia, a humble girl who lived far from the town and spent her days devoting herself only to prayer and work.
That night Nunzia was curling up her weaving thread when she saw the water advancing closer and closer to the door of her little house. Instinctively she threw the ball of yarn she was holding into the water and shouted ‘My son, stop here!’. The story goes that the water stopped right where the ball of yarn had fallen. The next morning, the town of Uriah had disappeared, and in its place Nunzia, the only survivor of the catastrophe, found the placid waters of a lake, Lake Varano.
Even today, some local fishermen tell of hearing, on full moon nights, the sound of the bells of the ancient city of Uriah.
[Illustration by Rocco Romondia].
