Braies Lake

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The Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee) is a small Alpine lake in the Val di Braies, a side valley of the Upper Val Pusteria (Alta Val Pusteria), situated at 1,496 m of altitude in the municipality of Braies (Prags), circa 100 km away from the provincial capital town of Bolzano/Bozen.

Geography

The lake is located at the foot of the imposing rock wall of Croda del Becco (Seekofel; Ladin Sass dla Porta; 2,810 m) and it is inside the perimeter of the Parco Naturale Fanes-Sennes-Braies.

It has an extension of about 31 hectares, with a length of 1,2 km and a width of 300-400 metres. It is one of the deepest lakes of South Tyrol, touching 36 metres of maximum depth, with an average depth of 17 m.

The lake was originated by a landslide, and its creation is due to the blocking of the Rio Braies stream, because of a landmass that detached itself from the nearby Sasso del Signore.

The lake is an attractive tourist destination for the intense blue colour of its limpid waters and for the natural scenery in which it is immersed; in fact, the Braies lake is surrounded on three sides by Dolomite peaks, amongst which is the imposing Croda del Becco/Seekofel, mentioned above.

The lake is also the departure point of the Alta via ('Alpine Highway') No. 1, one of 8 long-distance trails that cross the Dolomites, known as “La classica” (‘The classic’), which goes all the way to the foothills of the Gruppo della Schiara (2.565 m), near Belluno.

Toponym

The name of the lake is attested since 1296 as Hünz an den Se; in 1330 it becomes Praxersee; in 1400 See in Prags; in 1620 Pragsersee and in 1885 Pragser Wildsee; the epithet of ‘wild’ is therefore dating to the 19° century, and is perhaps to be reconnected to the origins of mountain climbing activities in the area, which right in that period started to become a mass phenomenon. The Italian name “Lago di Braies” dates instead to 1940, while in the first Directory of the Italian Municipalities (‘Prontuario dei Comuni d'Italia’) of 1923 the locality still appears simply as “Pragser Wildsee”.