A long-lost engulfed village shows up after 70 years from a drained lake only to reveal untold mysteries.

That sounds like the plot from a perfect Hollywood thriller, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, it’s pretty real; the village, the fact that it was underwater for 70 odd years, and its re-emergence; all of it.

The last week of May 2021 witnessed a revelation that no one had anticipated. At the site of a lone church tower that stood at the center of Lake Resia close to the borders of Switzerland and Austria, the remains of a small Italian village from the 1950s named Curon resurfaced when workers drained the water to perform repair work. While the peculiar sight was already such an eye-candy for tourists that it had inspired the 2018 novel Resto Qui by Marco Balzano in addition to the Netflix thriller, Curon, the awe-factor associated with the place increased manifold ever since the actual village that was submerged under the lake resurfaced.

The history of Curon

Curon, which was once home to around 900 people, had been a part of Austria till 1919. The village was located near the lakes Resia and Curon, the two natural basins in the Resia pass situated in the Southern Alps. When the government proposed building a dam there to generate hydroelectricity, the village’s residents, who were unfamiliar with the Italian language, tried everything in their power to stop the move.

However, they couldn’t succeed, and as a result, their homes were intentionally submerged. While the establishment of the dam was postponed due to World War II, Curon was immersed in 1950 and stayed that way, with its half-emerged church tower reminding the world of its lost existence. 

The resurfacing of the missing town

In May 2021, the lost town started to re-emerge as workers evacuated the lake to perform repairs on the hydroelectric plant. While the homes that existed before the flood were obviously wiped away, the walls, arched cellars, and stone steps became exposed, to the astonishment and excitement of locals. 

As the missing town started to emerge, the photos and videos of the village became viral on various social media platforms, showcasing the wreckage in their scenic surroundings among the hills of South Tyrol.

The site has, in fact, gathered so much attention to date, that people from all across the world have expressed wishes to visit the place at least once. Not to mention, mysterious stories of legends hearing the bells of the tower still ringing when walking up the Curon tower have further added fuel to the anticipation.

But despite the wishes of the locals and tourists, once again, it’s time for history to be repeated as the village prepares to get submerged.

With the repair work reaching its end and the fact that tourist spots are largely closed due to the global pandemic, it’s highly unlikely that many people will get to see and experience the whole setting first-hand. 

But hey, we could always get to see it in another movie or series, right?