List of lakes of Italy

The lakes of Italy can be distinguished, depending on their location within the national territory, between pre-alpine, north-western, Apennine, Sicilian and Sardinian, in addition to lagoons and coastal lakes.

They are generally named after the surrounding towns and often their capacity has been increased with the construction of dams, in order to create large water reserves to be used for the production of electricity.

The pre-alpine lakes are the largest and most important because they constitute capacious basins, in which the alpine rivers restrain their impetus and purify their waters, depositing the transported materials.

They are deep valleys, carved by glaciers, which once descended to the foot of the Alpine chain.

They were formed by the wave motion of the sea, which, first of all in the inlets, accumulated sandy shores and dune strings, which closed the waters behind.