Santa Luce Lake

Agriturismo dei Setteventi overlooks the Lake of Santa Luce: a wonderful natural place to explore thanks to many guided trails.

A man-made lake created in the 1960s, Santa Luce Lake was originally a hydraulic bay.

The lake came into being thanks to the construction of a damn designed to facilitate the collection of river water. It immediately became the habitat of varied water species and different kinds of swampland vegetation.

The area is currently host to many bird species including the Podiceps Cristatus, the Ixobrycus Minutus, the Anasplatyrhynchos and the Locustella Luscinioides. Since birds have always stopped in the region during their migration between Europe and Africa, the Italian League for Bird Protection began carrying out a long series of tests in the 1980s to evaluate the area’s ecological importance.

The LIPU Oasis was created in 1992. Three years later, the Municipality of Santa Lucia created ‘ANPIL - Santa Luce Lake’ which became a Provincial Natural Reserve in the year 2000.

Lipu Oasis

Within the city limits of Santa Luce you'll find the Lipu Oasis, with over 150 species on its grounds.

In Winter the oasis is populated by multicolored ducks like the Great Bittern, the Green winged Teal, the Mallard and the Eurasian Wigeon, while the cormorants make a show posing on the tree branches with their wings spread wide to take in the warmth of the sun. There are also many migratory birds, especially herons such as the Black Crowned Night heron, the Little Egret, the Little Bittern and the Red Heron who pass by here on their long journey to rest on the lake's shores.

In an ecosystem like that of the lake is home to an enormous collection of life and biological diversity like the elegant dragonflies, colorful butterflies and great night sphinxes. All of this can be seen up close at the oasis thanks to the many trails in place. For children there are educational possiblities for learing about plants.