Barma Lake
lake of Aosta Valley
The Barma Lake (in French Lac de Barme) is a natural lake of glacial origin located at an altitude of 2,020 m a.s.l. in the Lys Valley, in Aosta Valley.
Toponym
The term barma (or balma, French: balme) indicates a rock shelter in Valdôtain patois.
Characteristics
The lake is located in the municipality of Fontainemore, at the center of a basin dominated to the south by Mont Mars. Just north of the main body of water is a smaller body of water, called Upper Barma Lake, at an altitude of 2,032 m. Near the lake, there is also an alpine pasture and—at 2,060 m altitude—the Barma Hut, a recently built stone structure owned by the municipality of Fontainemore.
Access
The lake can be reached by a marked trail starting from Fontainemore and passing near the lower Vargno Lake. The Barma basin is also connected via the Barma Pass to the Sanctuary of Oropa. Every five years, the Fontainemore to Oropa Procession passes by the lake.
Nature conservation
The Barma Lake and the surrounding area are part of the Mont Mars Nature Reserve.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Barma Lake” as lake of Aosta Valley. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as lake of Aosta Valley. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q85628542. Authority coordinates are 45.643, 7.930. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Barma Lake”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Barma Lake primary sources, Barma Lake archive and Barma research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Barma Lake”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Barma Lake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.