Lago di Licola
lake in Italy
The Lago di Licola (English: Licola Lake) was an artificial lake located on the coast in the municipality of Pozzuoli, near the locality of Licola.
History and description
During the Neronian era, the emperor himself decided to construct a navigable canal, called Fossa Neronis, intended to connect the port of Pozzuoli with Rome, spanning a length of one hundred sixty miles. The project was designed by architects Severus and Celer, and construction began in an area slightly north of Cumae, already predominantly marshy, where numerous coots, locally called follicole in dialect, resided, giving the area its name, Licola. With Nero's death, construction was halted, and the project was definitively abandoned. The ditch created, fed by waters from nearby hills, gave rise to a marsh. This was transformed into a lake following reclamation works during the Middle Ages.
The Lago di Licola thus developed the typical flora and fauna of a marsh, also nourished by its proximity to the sea, which contributed to its popularity during the 18th century and early 19th century. The Bourbons, particularly Charles III of Spain, turned it into a site for their hunting and fishing expeditions, with the construction of small houses, chapels, and dovecotes, as well as for the soaking of flax and hemp. During the extensive reclamation project that affected the area at the end of the 19th century, the lake was completely drained, and remnants of necropolises and roads with sidewalks from the Roman era were also demolished.
The Lago di Licola had an elongated shape, still visible due to the lush vegetation that grew where its waters once stood.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lago di Licola” as lake in Italy. 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 in Italy. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19060551. Authority coordinates are 40.859, 14.050. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. 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 “Lago di Licola”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lago di Licola primary sources, Lago di Licola archive and Lago 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 “Lago di Licola”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lago di Licola” 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.