Lac de Saint-Cassien
A man-made lake that supplies Cannes with water and hides a Roman aqueduct
The story
Before you is the Lac de Saint-Cassien. It is not a natural lake but a reservoir. In 1959 the Malpasset dam near Fréjus burst, and hundreds of people died. Three years later, in 1962, the company EDF began building a new dam here, an embankment of earth and rock. The lake was filled in the mid-1960s. It covers about 420 hectares and holds about sixty million cubic meters of water. It is fed by the Biançon and Riou Blanc streams. The lake’s water makes electricity and flows to the taps of parts of the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, including Cannes and Saint-Raphaël. Under the water, about seven kilometers of a Roman aqueduct lie hidden; it once carried water to Fréjus. In 1988 the Fondurane nature reserve was created by the lake. The bridge you are standing on, the Pont du Pré-Claou, crosses the middle of the lake. In summer people swim and fish along the shores.
Visiting
The shores are open at any time. In summer lifeguards are on duty at the beaches and there is a first-aid post. Fishing is restricted: for example, carp fishing near the Rocher de l’Américain is banned in the first half of the year. There is traffic on the bridge, so look at the lake from the edge, carefully. More on provence-alpes-cotedazur.com.
Sources
- Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourisme — Le barrage de Saint-Cassien
- Wikipédia (FR) — Lac de Saint-Cassien
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