Lac des Settons, Artificial reservoir in Morvan Regional Natural Park, Château-Chinon, France.
Lac des Settons covers 3.67 square kilometers with a perimeter exceeding 13 kilometers, holding approximately 19.5 million cubic meters of water at an elevation of 586 meters in the Nièvre department of France.
Built between 1854 and 1861 through construction of a 20-meter-high granite dam, the lake was originally designed to regulate Yonne River traffic and facilitate timber rafting toward Paris during the 19th century.
Listed as a historic site in 1937, Lac des Settons has become a local symbol of water management and now hosts various environmental and regional history events within the Morvan natural park area.
Visitors can access the lake shores free of charge via the D978 road from Château-Chinon, with facilities including boat rentals, camping areas, picnic zones, and summer lifeguard supervision at designated beaches.
Several windmills submerged when the reservoir was filled occasionally become visible when water levels drop, providing glimpses of the former rural landscape transformed by the dam's construction in the mid-1800s.
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