Lac du Chevril, Artificial reservoir in Tignes, France
Lac du Chevril is an artificial reservoir in the French Alps at 1,790 meters (5,875 feet) altitude covering 270 hectares. The water reaches depths of 181 meters (594 feet) near the dam and serves two hydroelectric plants that supply power to the region.
Tignes Dam was constructed between 1947 and 1952, flooding the original village of Tignes and displacing around 400 residents. Despite fierce community resistance, the dam project proceeded and transformed the landscape permanently.
A massive fresco of Hercules adorns the dam wall, created in 1992 by artist Jean-Marie Pierret and eight other painters working together. This colorful artwork stands as a symbol of how the community transformed an industrial structure into a place of artistic expression.
You can view the dam and lake from several vantage points accessible by road and walking paths near the site. The best time to visit is from June through September when weather is stable and all access routes are fully open.
Every ten years the lake is fully drained for dam inspection, briefly revealing what remains of the submerged old village below. These rare drainings expose foundations and objects that hint at the community buried beneath the water.
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