Camera Etrusca Photography Holidays & Workshops in Europe

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
  • Location
    • Tuscany & Umbria Landscapes
    • Accommodation
    • Wining and Dining
  • Photo Tours and Workshops
    • Exclusive Photo Tours and Guided Tours
    • Master Class
    • Typical Tuscan Photo Tour
    • Rome Photo Tours
    • Venice Photo Tours
  • Dates and Prices
  • FAQ
    • What to Bring
  • Contact
  • Blog

Lake Bolsena

Posted on 4 June 2012 by patnicholas in ETRUSCAN PLACES, Lake Bolsena No Comments
Lake Bolsena

Lake Bolsena is one of the magnificent sights of Italy. It has been considered a lake of great spiritual importance…. and mystery, for thousands of years. It was the sacred lake of the Etruscans and it still has a powerful  effect on anybody who visits its shores. The painter William Turner passed by here in 1795 and he like us, would  have marvelled at the the magnificent light, the clearness of the air even in high summer, and the picturesqueness of its lakeside villages such as Capodimonte and Bolsena town.

Italian fisherman

hoary fisherfolk

CAMERA ETRUSCA will take you all around its shores. Bolsena is still a working lake, the fishing industry thrives in the village of Marta which is one of favourite places with its brightly coloured fishing boats, narrow cobbled streets and ancient buildings.The fisherman come in every morning with their catch of perch, pike, eel and coregone the local speciality – it’s quite delicious and not at all like a freshwater fish and you’ll find it all the lakeside restaurants.  The fishermen with their weather lined faces and air of bonhomie are happy to be photographed with their nets and paraphernalia. This is an excellent place to practice portraiture.

 

Lake Bolsena is an extinct volcano 13km long by 11 wide with two islands, both containing old villas, churches and ruined castles, but now uninhabited.

Bizentina Island, Lake Bolsena

Bizentina Island

On occasions we hire a boat to visit the islands which, with their high cliffs surmounted by chapels and ruins, are like something from a gothic novel. The rock is honey coloured tufa, the sand is volcanic and black. Occasionally around the islands it is possible to spot a flamingo, while grey herons, egrets and the gorgeously coloured bee-eater are common.

Visentium ruins, Bolsena

High on the ruins of Visentium

Legend has it that the Etruscans migrated from drought stricken Lydia in Asia Minor  around 900 BC. When they first saw the vast expanse of fresh water that is Bolsena it must have seemed like an earthly paradise to the parched navigators. Not surprising that they made the lake the centre of their cult, and it was somewhere here on its shores that the gathering of the clans took place every year, the mysterious Fanum Voltumnae  the exact location of which is still wrapped in mystery.

Weeping-willow on Lake Bolsena

Willow patterns

 Bolsena is a lake of  miracles. St  Christina was mercilessly tossed into the lake by her pagan father, who thoughtfully tied a rock round her ankles, this may well refer to the Christian vanquishment of the pagan Voltumna.

Santa Cristina's footprints, Bolsena

Santa Cristina's footprints

The rock tied around Christina’s feet to sink her, and on which she miraculously floated back to the surface, is the prized relic of Bolsena’s beautiful miracle church, and whatever its origins the stone has two small footprints clearly visible.

A photographic  excursion to Lake Bolsena can easily last all day there is so much to see, do, and photograph. This is one of the great landscapes of Italy, or perhaps we should say lakescape.

Related posts:

Barabbata FestivalBarabbata Festival

Powered by YARPP.

Bisenzio, Bizentina Island, lake Bolsena, Marta, saint Christina, Visentium

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

contact: Patrick Nicholas

  • +39 347 2752630
  • info@cameraetrusca.com
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Vimeo
    • YouTube
    • Pinterest
    • Linkedin

Categories

  • Endangered (1)
  • ETRUSCAN PLACES (20)
    • Civita Bagnoregio (1)
    • Lake Bolsena (2)
    • Pitigliano (2)
    • Pitigliano Little Jerusalem (1)
    • Sorano & Sovana (1)
    • The Sacred Ways (1)
    • Vulci (2)
  • Festivals in Tuscia (1)
  • GETTING ABOUT (3)
    • new Discovery for Camera Etrusca (1)
  • ITALIAN WAY OF LIFE (4)
    • Orvieto Olive Oil (1)
  • Landscape Photography (1)
  • LOST SITES (12)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in BOHEMIA (1)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in ITALY (18)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in PORTUGAL (1)
  • PHOTOGRAPHY KIT, tips and accessories (7)
    • filters in the digital age (1)
    • instant smoke (1)
    • is film dead? (1)
    • what digital camera? (1)
  • Picturesque (1)
  • POST PRODUCTION (2)
    • making photo books (1)
    • Showing Off (1)
  • Rome (4)
  • Uncategorized (1)

Recent Post

  • Radicofani and the Grand Tour – Part 2 2 July 2020
  • Old Transparencies 16 November 2018
  • Fixing a stuck zoom and sensor cleaning 27 July 2018
  • Photo Workshops in Lisbon and the Coast. Start dates: May 25 and November 2. 12 March 2018
  • Winter Photo Workshop in Bohemia, Part 1 23 February 2018

Related Posts

  1. Barabbata Festival

Photo Workshops, Photo Tours and Learning Holidays

  • cypress grove on via Cassia Tuscany
  • Flying Devil carries prostitute
  • Patrick Nicholas ruins Castro
  • Cahen_Tomb
  • Castelluccio_Norcia.wild_flowers.PatrickNicholas.-0960
  • Radicofani
  • Vatican.roof.saints.PatrickNicholas.-6965
  • corpus_domini_orvieto.PatrickNicholas
  • S.Lorenzo.vecchio_LakeBolsena

Camera Etrusca --- Corso Cavour, 176 05018 Orvieto - Umbria , IT
p.iva (VAT) 01815061203

Click here to call my mobile: +39 3472 752630

Please click here to send a text message to my mobile, if you can’t get through.

email: info [at] cameraetrusca.com

©2020 Camera Etrusca - Photo Workshops - Patrick Nicholas Photographer