Lake della Duchessa

The Duchessa Lake is a high-altitude mountain lake in Lazio, in the Province of Rieti, within the Montagne della Duchessa Regional Reserve, in the territory of the municipality of Borgorose, on the border with the Province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo.

Description

It is a glacial lake of alpine type, one of the few in the Apennines, located at 1,788 m a.s.l. in a high-altitude basin between the rocky walls of Murolungo and the slopes of Monte Morrone and the Costone-Uccettu subgroup in a grassy area that in summer is covered with ranunculuses and serves as a refuge for the crested newt.
The lake, lacking inflows, 400 m long and 150 m wide, is a typical high-altitude mountain lake of glacial origin, showing seasonal level variations as it is fed solely by atmospheric precipitation and the melting of snow. Its shape suggests an ancient merger of two dolines.

Access

The lake can be reached from the western side of Cartore in Borgorose through medium-length and elevation hiking trails, via the Vallone di Fua or Vallone del Cieco, or from Corvaro by ascending Valle Amara, Valle dell'Asino, up to Campitello, then crossing between Punta dell'Uccettu and Monte Morrone with a subsequent short descent. From the eastern side, it can be accessed from Prato Capito on the road to Campo Felice by crossing the Bosco di Cerasuolo, reaching Campitello, and joining the other route, or from the Rifugio Vincenzo Sebastiani by climbing Vena Stellante and then descending gradually.

Slope	Starting Point	Trail	Difficulty	Refuge/Bivouac	Notes
West	Cartore	CAI 2B	EE	Bivouac Gigi Panei	Exposed passages
West	Cartore	CAI 2C up to Gigi Panei bivouac, final stretch CAI 2B to the lake	E
West	Bocca di Teve	CAI 2, CAI 2A, CAI 1A	EE		Exposed passages on CAI 2A
East	Valle Cerchiata	CAI 1A	EE	Rifugio Vincenzo Sebastiani
East	Old bauxite mine	CAI 1E, CAI 1A	EE
North	Tornimparte	CAI 1E, CAI 1F, CAI 2E, Punta dell'Uccettu, Duchessa Lake	EE
North	Corvaro	CAI 2D	EE

History

The lake and the Moro case

The lake gained national notoriety due to a disinformation attempt in April 1978 during the kidnapping of Aldo Moro. A false Red Brigades communiqué on 18 April 1978 indicated that Moro's body should be searched for in the lake, forcing the police to conduct challenging search operations under the frozen surface.When the false Red Brigades communiqué about Duchessa Lake arrived,
On the same day, the Red Brigades hideout in via Gradoli, 96 in Rome was discovered.
Within a week, the international press raised doubts about its authenticity:
The false message had indeed been claimed by multiple parties, but the issuance of the new communiqué no. 7 three days later led to suspicions of its apocryphal nature; it was likely produced by the art forger Antonio Chichiarelli, linked to the Banda della Magliana.