Bell Tower of Curon — Lake Reschen, Curon Venosta
14th century · Lake Reschen, Curon Venosta, South Tyrol
Photo: Superchilum / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia.
The Bell Tower of Curon is the 14th-century Romanesque bell tower of the church of St Catherine, the last visible part of the old village of Curon (Graun) in South Tyrol. Curon was destroyed and submerged in 1950 when a dam turned the valley into the Lake Reschen reservoir, and the tower, left standing and placed under heritage protection, now rises out of the water. Source Source Source Checked
Seen Oct 2024: South Tyrol’s governor and Graun’s mayor inspected the site, and the green light was given for redesigning the grounds around the Graun church tower (stol.it, 9 Oct 2024). Source Reported
💡 5 things to know
- Built beside a church that is goneSouth Tyrol’s tourism board says the tower was built at the end of the 1300s as a free-standing structure to the left of the church of the time, the church of St Catherine. Italian Wikipedia gives 1357 from a cited source. Source Source Conflicting
- A village under the reservoirGraun and Reschen were destroyed and flooded by the reservoir in 1950. Il Post puts the loss at about 180 buildings, Italian Wikipedia at 163 houses; Smithsonian says almost 150 families, about 1,000 people, were displaced. Source Source Source Source Conflicting
- It survived two blastsSouth Tyrol’s tourism board says the houses of Graun and St Catherine’s church were blown up, while the tower stayed standing after two demolition blasts and was put under heritage protection. Source Reported
- Repaired at low waterRestoration work on the tower was completed on 9 July 2009, made possible by lowering the lake. Smithsonian says the 2009 drawdown was to fix cracks in the tower’s sides. Source Source Checked
- Bells, legend and iceThe bells were removed before the lake formed (18 July 1950, per Italian Wikipedia). According to italia.it, legend says they still ring on windy days; Smithsonian says you can walk out to the tower when the lake freezes in winter. Source Source Source Reported
📍 Where it is
The tower stands in Lake Reschen (Reschensee / Lago di Resia) at Graun (Curon Venosta), South Tyrol. Source Source Checked
Opens a map at the tower in Lake Reschen, Curon Venosta (coordinates from South Tyrol’s official tourism page).
🗓️ Sightings
- 1300s
Tower built beside St Catherine’s church · Südtirol.info
- 1950
Graun destroyed and flooded by the reservoir; tower survives · Südtirol.info
- 20099 Jul
Restoration completed after the lake was lowered · Wikipedia (it)
- 202023 May
Il Post retells the story of the drowned village · Il Post
- 2021
Part of the lake drained; old village remains resurface · Smithsonian Magazine
- 202329 Aug
The tower’s old clock is to return to Curon · GreenMe
- 20249 Oct
Redesign of the area around the tower green-lit · stol.it
Amber stamps mark records or reports; green stamps are dated photos. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
La storia di Curon, il paese sommerso
“Nel 1950 la costruzione della diga di Resia comportò la distruzione di un piccolo paese sudtirolese”
In 1950 the building of the Resia dam meant the destruction of a small South Tyrolean village.
Versunkener Kirchturm im Reschensee: Areal wird aufgewertet
“Das grüne Licht für die Neugestaltung des Geländes im Bereich des Grauner Kirchturms wurde gegeben.”
The green light has been given for redesigning the grounds around the Graun church tower.
✅ The facts
- Built
- 14th century (late 1300s per Südtirol.info; 1357 per Italian Wikipedia) Source Source Source Conflicting
- Buildings lost
- About 180 buildings (Il Post) or 163 houses (Italian Wikipedia) Source Source Conflicting
- Builder
- Unknown Unconfirmed
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Südtirol.info (IDM Südtirol, official tourism) — Turm im Reschensee — undated
- Il Post — La storia di Curon, il paese sommerso — 23 May 2020
- Italia.it (official Italian tourism) — Curon e il campanile sommerso — undated
- Wikipedia (Italian) — Lago di Resia
- Smithsonian Magazine — Smart News report on Curon’s resurfacing — May 2021 (no date shown on page; embeds an 18 May 2021 post)
- Südtirolerland — Campanile nel Lago di Resia — undated
- GreenMe — Torna a “casa” l’orologio del campanile di Curon — 29 Aug 2023
- stol.it — Versunkener Kirchturm im Reschensee: Areal wird aufgewertet — 9 Oct 2024
- Hero image: Superchilum / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia. A 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 7 November 2026 · How we verify art