Lech Braies
| Lech Braies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Costa Comun |
| Group | Auc Costa Lakes |
| Type | glacial lake |
| Etymology | Ladin for wetlands |
| Part of | Daora river |
| Primary inflows | various streams |
| Primary outflows | Upper Daora (Ri de Costa) |
| Catchment area | 5.07 square kilometres (1.96 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | Tirol |
| Managing agency | Tiroler Waterways |
| Surface area | 51.21 hectares (126.5 acres) |
| Average depth | 21.13 metres (69.3 ft) |
| Max. depth | 61.35 metres (201.3 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 996.31 metres (3,268.7 ft) |
| Max. temperature | 14.0 °C (57.2 °F) |
| Min. temperature | −5.1 °C (22.8 °F) |
| Frozen | Jan – Feb |
| Islands | Isula dla Bendùra (Isle of the Blessed) |
| Settlements | Braies |
Lech Braies (Jackian: Lake Braies) is a natural lake in the Dolomita, in Provinzia Inn, Tirol. It lies within the Costa Comun of the Dolomita District. It originates from the glacial period, and is filled by glacial meltwater from a number of surrounding glaciers, most notably the Sass dla Porta glacier. The lake is the source of the Daora, a tributary of the Inn. The lake is both a popular tourist attraction internationally, and a place of huge significance in Tiroler folklore attracting a great deal of domestic tourism. Due to its cultural significance, the lake is among the least polluted in Tirol, certified as potable without treatment.
Although historically there is substantial evidence of settlement across the valley, settlement is now limited to Braies village a small hamlet on the southern shore of the lake.
Contents
Toponym
Lech Braies is believed to originate from the proto-Rhaetic root Braies, meaning wetlands or marshy area. Historically, several names have proven prevelant, including Lech Bendùra (Saga of the Kingdom of Fanes). The earliest written recorded name used for the lake appears in the Aquila Tirolensis, as Kristadlagj, believed to be a corruption of the Proto-Rhaetic, Lagjo di Kristal, meaning Crystal Lake. The Aquila Tirolensis records a mass-baptism in the lake which it says "is situated in the high alpine reaches of the Parish of Ricosta." Historian Marcel Virou, claimed this is consistent with later records which pertain to the lake, and early church records of the Archdiocese of Balsan record tithes drawn from the "gjente dl Kristadlagj", albeit under the Parish of "Pleif", the boundaries of which are unknown. This lack of clarity has led some historiography to reject Virou's claims that Kristadlagj refers to Lech Braies. The proto-Rhaetic Braies was revived in the early 20th century with the works of Carle Felix Gana, most notably in the Kingdom of Fanes, whilst Lech Braies had fallen out of oral use in the intermediate period - it had remained in use within the Tiroler sagas, linguists such as Alec Meis later confirmed that this name was indeed in keeping with the proto-Rhaetic language.
Geography
Lech Braies originates from the glacial period and with a maximum depth of 61.35 metres (201.3 ft) is among the deepest lakes in the Aut Dolomita SSIE, which the entire lake is encompassed by. It covers an area of 51.21 hectares (126.5 acres) and contains an estimated 10,820,673 cubic metres (382,128,500 cu ft). The lake is 1,093.21 metres (3,586.6 ft) wide and 1,094.56 metres (3,591.1 ft) long from their furthest points. All these measurements are long-run averages as the lake varies in size substantially between Summer and Winter due to variations in snowmelt and precipitation from the Sass Glacier (Ladin: Sass Dlacia).
The lake is in part fed by the high altitude alpine lake, Lech Fradern, a corruption of the Ladin language word for fraternal. These two lakes and Lech Minea form the Sass dla Porta lake system.
The largest of the feeding rivers is considered to be the continuation of the Daora, which enters the lake at its eastern extent, it is known colloquially as Aua Porta (lit.: Porta Water). It is fed from the centre of the Sass dla Porta. The remainder of the inflow is from ephemeral streams from throughout the Val Braies, the vast bulk of which run dry by July as the non-glacial snowfall on the Creasta dl Dragun, the western spur of the Sass dla Porta, is fully melted.
The lake forms the source of the Daora proper, the outflow of which is in the far south of the lake. This has rendered the lake significant as a source of drinking water for much of the Costa Comun.
It has one island that is present year-round, the Isula dla Bendùra, situated in the narrow exit of Lech Braies towards the south of the lake.
Two long-distance routes pass by the Lech Braies, the Via Dolomita, which passes the northern bank, running east to west; and the Via Aut, which runs north south along the western bank of Lech Fradern and the eastern bank of Lech Braies, before ascending the Sass dla Porta, on via ferata. The Via Aut is a high difficulty route which should only be attempted by competent mountaineers.
Formation
The Val Braies is a cirque valley, formed during the glacial period. As the glacier retreated, a deposit of ice where Lech Braies now sits melted, carving only a narrow exit channel where the Daora now flows out from the lake. Whilst the lake is surrounded by moraines, the lake itself is not a moraine lake, with the southern dam being formed of bedrock, not a moraine collapse.
Originally, Lech Braies fed the River Fra, a combination of moraine collapse and eastward fluvial erosion led to the redirection of the outflow to form the Upper Daora. The outflow from the lake runs through a steep carved valley - formed by the discharge from the end of the glacial period in which the lake formed, hence the river now only fills a small part of the large carved gorge.
Tributaries
The largest tributary by average discharge to the lake is the Aua Sass, accounting for 38.19% of the total catchment. The Lech Fradern accounts for 17.85%. The remaining 43.96% is contributed by the sum of smaller tributaries sourced by snowmelt and the Sass Glacier, and the Faúza Règo cave system which hosts a number of underground streams that feed the lake.
| River | Average discharge [m³/s] (1978–1990) |
Discharge in % |
Catchment [m2] (Mar 2020) |
Catchment in % |
Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ai Ciörvëc | 27.52 | 15.12 | 650,144.73 | 12.82 | Sept – June |
| Aua Dragun | 21.54 | 11.84 | 571,110.29 | 11.26 | Sept – July |
| Aua Sass | 38.19 | 20.98 | 734,116.6 | 14.47 | always |
| Faúza Règo cave system | 16.13 | 8.96 | 0 | 0 | always |
| Lech Fradern | 32.48 | 17.85 | 646,000.58 | 12.73 | Sept – June |
| Sum of the 5 main tributaries |
135.86 | 74.65 | 2,601,372.2 | 51.28 | varies |
| Total inflow | 182 | 100.0 | 5,072,746.53 | 100.0 | varies |
Outflows and evaporation
The Daora accounts for nearly all of the outflow from Lech Braies, with evaporation and direct precipitation roughly equating on average. Some smaller outflows flow through the southern portion of the Faúza Règo cave system.
Isle of the Blessed
.jpg)
The Isle of the Blessed (Ladin: Isula dla Bendùra) is the only permanent island on Lech Braies. The island is formed of an igneous intrusion, as a stock of igneous rock above the height of the water table year-round. The igneous rock that forms the island reduced the rate of erosion comparative to the limestone that surrounds the island, hence its higher altitude. The island has has substantial evidence of a Rhaetic shrine, and a large quantity of human remains, in a barrow, on the southern side of the island. As rates of erosion have increased after the onset of Lech Braies as a tourist attraction, the Tiroler Ministry of the Arts, Culture, and Sport which has responsibility for preserving heritage sites was forced to institute limits on the number of visitors to the island, due to substantial risks of the barrow flooding.
The isle varies in size substantially over time with seasonal variations in the height of the water table. The average size between 1990 and 2010 based on monthly measurements was 255.98 square metres (2,755.3 sq ft). In the driest periods, the island nearly connects to the mainland in the east.
The igneous rock of the isle renders it an ideal habitat for many fauna, due to the high concentration of phosphates within the soil. The isle is host to a great number of species endemic only to the Dolomita Aut SSIE.
Like many of the local toponyms, the name "Isle of the Blessed" originates from the Tiroler sagas. The island is said in the sagas to be the home of Spina de Mul, a sorcerer who is responsible for both supporting the rise of the Fanes, and bringing about their downfall. As the High Priestess of Rhaetic Paganism, she and her acolytes are both sacred in their own right, but further able to bring souls back from the dead. Those brought back from the dead are the so-called blessed. In the sagas, it is fortold that the future High Priestess on the island would reanimate the survivors of the Kingdom of Fanes. It is unclear as to whether their was ever a High Priestess, or any major leadership figure within Rhaetic Paganism. Archaeology in the area has found several figures that seem to be wealthy, suggesting high status, however they are all men.
Shore
The shores of Lech Braies are mostly gravel or dirt, though in the far south, erosion has sufficiently degraded the gravel into sand, and as such there are small sandy beaches.
The total length of the shore is on average 3.98 kilometres (2.47 mi), although it should be noted that shore length is not a well-defined measure, due to the coastline paradox. This calculation is based on when the lake is at it's average altitude of 996.31 metres (3,268.7 ft) above sea level, at the Glaceis Ocean.
Infrastructure
The lake is accessible only by an unclassified road which leads north from the Inn Provincial Road, SP56 which leads westward to the Jouf dl Dragun and eastward to the S5 and Pescosta.
The nearest rail connection to Lech Braies is the Pescosta railway station, from which services are operated by Inn Ferata to Prëner and Granda Trentin Rodèna to Absam. A shuttle bus operates between the railway station in Pescosta and Lech Braies, operating twice daily in each direction all year round, increasing to four times daily between June and August, and between December and February.
Until the 1913, the Creasta dl Dragun railway operated between Pescosta, Rina and Vèra, primarily transporting freight from the mines in the Creasta dl Dragun to the mainline in Pescosta. Following the closure of the northern mines in the ridge in 1910, production fell dramatically and the railway ceased to be economically viable. The Costa Mining Company closed the railway in 1913, and reclaimed and sold the tracks. As of 2023 two proposals have been made for the future usage of the former route: in turn the reconstruction and reopening of the railway, as an alternative freight and commuter transport to the S51; and the establishment of a cycle route in its place, taking advantage of the low grades that were flattened to allow for rail transport. Neither of these proposals has been approved yet by the Provinzia Inn council.
Climate
The climate around Lech Braies is regulated by the large mass of water, meaning despite being at sufficient altitude for alpine tundra climate (ET), the climate around the lake is Continental dry with cool summers (Dfc).
Ecology
Fauna
Dracuna
The Dracuna is a species of salamander endemic to Lech Braies, adapted to the specific conditions of the subterranean watercourses of the Faúza Règo cave system. The species is classified as highly endangered, due to their severely limited range, which contributed to the establishment of a biological SSIE in and around Lech Braies. Due to the subterranean nature of the species it is difficult to accurately quantify the population, with estimates ranging from 300 to 1000 individuals.
Tourism
Folklore
Filmography
Sport
In Winter, between the months of December and February, the lake is fully frozen. Between 1890 and 1900, a tradition began amongst the main towns in the Dolomita District of playing a knockout curling tournament on the ice, since 2000 this has been played yearly from 1–7 January. In the 2022 edition, eight contests were held, including professional and amateur teams, and several differing youth brackets. The most popular is the adult amateur contest, which is often contested by every town in the district. The incumbent champions of the contest are Pescosta, which has also produced the largest number of winning teams in the contest since records began in 1963. The winners names are carved into the mountainside of Ciavazes in the Sass dla Porta.
In Summer, a number of water sports are popular on the lake, including paddle-boarding, kayaking and canoeing. A popular route for kayaking, the Via Daora, begins at Lech Braies, and follows the river through a series of rapids down the Upper Daora, through the town of Pescosta and culminating in Curt.
