Lago Sirino, Nemoli

Lake Sirino is a small natural reservoir in Basilicata located in a karst sinkhole at the foot of the mountain of the same name, in the municipality of Nemoli, at an altitude of 788 meters above sea level.

The lake, slightly elliptical in shape, is perhaps the last remnant of the large Pleistocene lake that occupied the Walnut Valley. The body of water, formerly much larger than the present five hectares of winter flood periods, occupied the lake basin of the Noce in prehistoric times, along the present course of the river and widened upstream from the town of Nemoli reaching Lauria; from here, passing through Trecchina, it circled around the slopes of Mount Coccovello and the adjacent mountain ranges.

The lake bed and shores consist of limestones with flint nodules dating from the Triassic and polychrome diaspers predominantly red, gray, brownish and white, called siliceous schists, from the Jurassic period. The basin is fed by perennial springs and has no visible outfall. The rich flora surrounding it is marked by alders, elms, chestnut trees, poplars, several species of conifers, and marsh vegetation. Its waters are populated by a diverse fish fauna consisting of rainbow trout, brown trout, eels, chub, royal perch, tench, carp, barbel, trout perch, rudd and bleak. Amphibians are also present. It falls within the territory of the Lucano-Val d'Agri-Lagonegrese Apennine National Park.

In feudal times it belonged to the university of Rivello; in 1834 it then passed into the jurisdiction of Nemoli, which became in the same year an autonomous municipality independent of Rivello. In recent years there have been a number of episodes of hydrogeological instability, also characterized by the opening of chasms of considerable size that have caused the water level to drop, such as to cause concern among the inhabitants of the hamlet of the same name and within the municipal administration.

On the shores of the lake is the hamlet of Lago Sirino, which is home to a number of tourist initiatives and some businesses; the place can be reached in a short time from the A2 Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway, which overlooks it, via the provincial road formerly Strada statale 19 delle Calabrie passing from the south through the hamlet of Pecorone di Lauria. Along the perimeter of the lake there is a 1-kilometer road marked as a cyclostrada; there is also an RV area in the immediate vicinity.