The Monastery of St. Nicholas, Kalyazin, Russia
Underneath the waters of the Uglich Reservoir lie two monasteries, built in the 15th and 16th centuries. When Stalin moved to modernize the USSR in the late 1930s, a damn was built on the Upper Volga River, flooding an area roughly 249 kM². With an average depth of 5 m and as deep as 23 m in some spots, most of the buildings and structures were destroyed or covered by the waters. However, one section of the St. Nicholas Cathedral rose above the man made lake - its bell tower. The inside of the tower is bare, as things inside the structures were removed before the water rose, but it still draws tourists for a peek inside the peak. There's a small boat dock outside, and it's a spot for swimmers to head out to from the shore. While originally just a tower, it has been filled in a bit and strengthened to give it more of an island stance.
The Church tower of Lake Reschen, Italy
The Reschensee is an artificial lake near the Austrian border that completely submerged the village of Graun and its church in 1950, except for the 14th-century bell tower. The lake is 72-feet deep, and the church was mostly demolished the week before the area was flooded, yet the tower still stood and still stands today, peeking out above the surface of the water. Legend has it that you can still hear the church bells ringing during winter when the lake freezes over. The people of Graun tried hard to save their village, but to no avail, and 163 homes and 1,290 acres of farmland were drowned because of an electrical company's wish to build a dam. The spire is all that remains of the dreams and aspirations of those who once lived there.
The Nativity Church, Krokhino, Russia
The Nativity Church[11] was built at the end of 18th century (approximately in 1790) in Krokhino settlement. At the beginning of the 1960s Krokhino, Karlugino and other settlements of Belozersky District got into inundation zone at the time of construction of deep Volga–Baltic Waterway. The level of water in Lake Beloye has risen to guarantee depth for ships, and ancient villages and their whole history had gone underwater... The inhabitants of the inundated areas disassembled their houses and moved away. Only the churches remained on the deserted land: the Nativity Church in Krokhino. At present the church is half-destroyed. The Nativity Church is more likely to collapse as it stands in water, and the church of Candlemas in Kovzha is located on an island. The Nativity Church in Krokhino became well-known because of the tourist routes that travel on Sheksna River. In 2009 a project to salvage the church was organized.
Church of the Holy Rosary, Karnataka, India
A surreal and beautiful sight, the Church of the Holy Rosary in Karnataka, India emerges and sinks beneath the waters every year. This is a story that intertwines a church built in the 1860s, near Hassan, with a dam built in the 1960s. The church was left behind when the village was moved to make room for the Hemavathy Reservoir, but it appears after the monsoons. During the rainy season, it then slowly sinks back to wait until it is time to rise again and show its charm and grace – not to mention its excellent masonry!
Church of Potosi, Táchira, Venezuela
The cross of the church in Potosi, Venezuela, is all that's left of the town that was deserted by citizens when the government made plans to build the La Honda dam. The president at the time, Carlos Andres Perez, flew in to the village of 1,200 in 1985, but in the words of Josefa Garcia, a former resident: “He said we'd all be expropriated and we had to leave. It took our hope away." These drowned churches have a way of re-emerging, though, often as a result of nature's rather than man's doing. In 2010, El Niño – an abnormal warming of ocean surfaces – caused a drought, and the church in Potosi appeared. The facade was the only thing left intact.
Church of Sant Romà, Vilanova de Sau, Spain
In the 1960s, the Catalonian government made the choice to create a reservoir on the site of San Romà de Sau, a village that had been inhabited for a millennium. Forced to leave their town, the people made their best effort to take their valuables, and even exhume their dead before the man-made flood. Leaving the skeleton of their town, they headed inland.
As predicted, the creation of the reservoir flooded San Romà de Sau and completely submerged the buildings. However, when water levels in the area drop, the ghost village eerily emerges from the water, highlighted by the three-story church of the town.
Although very small, the pointed spire of the church can still be seen from anywhere in the surrounding hills. When the reservoir is high, only the tip of the Romanesque spire can be seen, but during periods of drought, the entire church emerges on dry land. During one of the dry periods, an effort to fortify the remains took place, and the church was reinforced with concrete. Despite being reinforced, the church is off-limits to visitors, and has a fence surrounding it that sinks with the water level as well.
Church of St. Nicholas, Mavrovo, Macedonia
Not far from the highest waterfall in the Balkans and what some consider to be the most beautiful canyon in the world lies Mavrovo Lake, a national park in Macedonia that’s also famous for its semi-submerged church. Set in breathtaking scenery amid grassy plateaus and snowy peaks, the abandoned church of St Nicholas was reportedly the victim of an artificial lake created to supply water to a local power plant.
Church of Old Petrolandia, Brazil
The church of old Petrolândia currently resembles some sort of ancient ruin, a series of brick-accented arches rising from blue-green waters. Most of the town was relocated due to the construction of a dam for a new hydroelectric plant. The remains of the rest were flooded, now lost beneath the surface, with the exception of this one tall structure.
Underneath the waters of the Uglich Reservoir lie two monasteries, built in the 15th and 16th centuries. When Stalin moved to modernize the USSR in the late 1930s, a damn was built on the Upper Volga River, flooding an area roughly 249 kM². With an average depth of 5 m and as deep as 23 m in some spots, most of the buildings and structures were destroyed or covered by the waters. However, one section of the St. Nicholas Cathedral rose above the man made lake - its bell tower. The inside of the tower is bare, as things inside the structures were removed before the water rose, but it still draws tourists for a peek inside the peak. There's a small boat dock outside, and it's a spot for swimmers to head out to from the shore. While originally just a tower, it has been filled in a bit and strengthened to give it more of an island stance.
The Reschensee is an artificial lake near the Austrian border that completely submerged the village of Graun and its church in 1950, except for the 14th-century bell tower. The lake is 72-feet deep, and the church was mostly demolished the week before the area was flooded, yet the tower still stood and still stands today, peeking out above the surface of the water. Legend has it that you can still hear the church bells ringing during winter when the lake freezes over. The people of Graun tried hard to save their village, but to no avail, and 163 homes and 1,290 acres of farmland were drowned because of an electrical company's wish to build a dam. The spire is all that remains of the dreams and aspirations of those who once lived there.
The Nativity Church[11] was built at the end of 18th century (approximately in 1790) in Krokhino settlement. At the beginning of the 1960s Krokhino, Karlugino and other settlements of Belozersky District got into inundation zone at the time of construction of deep Volga–Baltic Waterway. The level of water in Lake Beloye has risen to guarantee depth for ships, and ancient villages and their whole history had gone underwater... The inhabitants of the inundated areas disassembled their houses and moved away. Only the churches remained on the deserted land: the Nativity Church in Krokhino. At present the church is half-destroyed. The Nativity Church is more likely to collapse as it stands in water, and the church of Candlemas in Kovzha is located on an island. The Nativity Church in Krokhino became well-known because of the tourist routes that travel on Sheksna River. In 2009 a project to salvage the church was organized.
A surreal and beautiful sight, the Church of the Holy Rosary in Karnataka, India emerges and sinks beneath the waters every year. This is a story that intertwines a church built in the 1860s, near Hassan, with a dam built in the 1960s. The church was left behind when the village was moved to make room for the Hemavathy Reservoir, but it appears after the monsoons. During the rainy season, it then slowly sinks back to wait until it is time to rise again and show its charm and grace – not to mention its excellent masonry!
The cross of the church in Potosi, Venezuela, is all that's left of the town that was deserted by citizens when the government made plans to build the La Honda dam. The president at the time, Carlos Andres Perez, flew in to the village of 1,200 in 1985, but in the words of Josefa Garcia, a former resident: “He said we'd all be expropriated and we had to leave. It took our hope away." These drowned churches have a way of re-emerging, though, often as a result of nature's rather than man's doing. In 2010, El Niño – an abnormal warming of ocean surfaces – caused a drought, and the church in Potosi appeared. The facade was the only thing left intact.
In the 1960s, the Catalonian government made the choice to create a reservoir on the site of San Romà de Sau, a village that had been inhabited for a millennium. Forced to leave their town, the people made their best effort to take their valuables, and even exhume their dead before the man-made flood. Leaving the skeleton of their town, they headed inland.
As predicted, the creation of the reservoir flooded San Romà de Sau and completely submerged the buildings. However, when water levels in the area drop, the ghost village eerily emerges from the water, highlighted by the three-story church of the town.
Although very small, the pointed spire of the church can still be seen from anywhere in the surrounding hills. When the reservoir is high, only the tip of the Romanesque spire can be seen, but during periods of drought, the entire church emerges on dry land. During one of the dry periods, an effort to fortify the remains took place, and the church was reinforced with concrete. Despite being reinforced, the church is off-limits to visitors, and has a fence surrounding it that sinks with the water level as well.
Not far from the highest waterfall in the Balkans and what some consider to be the most beautiful canyon in the world lies Mavrovo Lake, a national park in Macedonia that’s also famous for its semi-submerged church. Set in breathtaking scenery amid grassy plateaus and snowy peaks, the abandoned church of St Nicholas was reportedly the victim of an artificial lake created to supply water to a local power plant.
The church of old Petrolândia currently resembles some sort of ancient ruin, a series of brick-accented arches rising from blue-green waters. Most of the town was relocated due to the construction of a dam for a new hydroelectric plant. The remains of the rest were flooded, now lost beneath the surface, with the exception of this one tall structure.
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