Lake Morasco, or Morasco Dam, is an artificial reservoir created between 1936 and 1940 to power the Ponte power plant. For the construction of the dam was submerged the homonymous village built here in the fifteenth century.
An ideal walk in summer when the heat is stifling, magnificent in autumn for the colors of nature, that of Lake Morasco is an unmissable appointment.
The history of submerged countries to leave room for “progress” also involves Piedmont. In Val Formazza, one of the valleys of the Val d’Ossola area located in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola right on the border with Switzerland, there is one of these villages that have been sacrificed to allow the construction of a dam. This is the hamlet of Morasco which, together with Riale, represented the extreme limit of the 13th century Walser settlements in this Alpine region.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, in fact, the area of the Ossola Valley experienced a great development of the hydroelectric industry, a sector capable of attracting capital and manpower in a difficult economic situation in a difficult economic situation. The expansion of this sector brought money, work and consequently an improvement in the living conditions of the inhabitants of the area employed in this new industry that was spreading throughout the territory.
The other side of the coin, however, was the huge damage that these changes caused to the surrounding environment: if in many cases the hydroelectric power plants were built using existing basins raising the level of the waters of the small lakes, in some other cases these basins were built ex-novo as in the case of Morasco.
At the time, the wooden and stone houses of the small village belonging to the Municipality of Formazza were no longer permanently inhabited during the winter, while in summer, the best time for the alpine pasture at high altitude, still hosted some families.
About twenty houses in total for a village now almost completely uninhabited that was buried by the waters of the hydroelectric basin between the 30s and 40s of the twentieth century creating what today takes the name of Lake Morasco. In the early years of the construction of the reservoir it was still possible to see the bell tower of the oratory dedicated to Sant’Anna and San Lorenzo which was located in the village. Subsequently, not even this small part of the old hamlet of Morasco was visible.
In memory of the village and, unfortunately, also of the workers who lost their lives during the work, the Edison company that took care of the construction of the dam built on a hill around there a small oratory still visible today.
Perfect mountain destination to spend a few hours in nature, Lake Morasco can be reached from Riale and continuing on foot along the road that leads to the village. The area has also become a reference point for alpine hikers who stop here to reach the mountain paths that cross it.
Today Lake Morasco, nestled in the mountains of the Val Formazza, preserves this secret often unknown to travelers who stop to admire its turquoise waters in which the wonders of the surrounding nature are reflected. A somewhat nostalgic and melancholic story that deserves to be known to better understand what you are observing once you get there to the top.
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