The dam of Santa Chiara represents the old stopbank which gave rise to the artificial basin of Lake Omodeo. It can be found in Ula Tirso, a town in Barigadu, in central Sardinia.
It was built between 1918 and 1924, along the river Tirso, leading to the creation of the lake which takes its name from the engineer who designed the dam, Angelo Omodeo. The work, at that time considered colossal, lead to the creation of the largest basin in Europe. Standing 70 metres high, it was the tallest dam in the world for a long time.
Its construction had a significant impact on the surrounding environment. Indeed, in conjunction with the advancement of the works, the ancient Medieval hamlet of Zuri upstream was dismantled and rebuilt. The ancient Romanesque church of San Pietro was also dismantled and re-built together with the hamlet. The church dates back to the end of 1200 and was built using a particular red trachyte rock. The lake’s water partly submerges the petrified wood of Zuri – Soddi as well as the pre-Nuragic settlement of Serra Linta, some tombs of Giants and domus de janas. The submerged heritage re-emerges sometimes when the basin’s level drops in warmer weather.
From a naturalistic point of view, the lake’s shores mainly feature forest formations of holm oak, downy oak and Mediterranean shrub. You can also observe specimens of white poplar, crack willow, ulmus minor, ash trees, salt cedars and bay tree.
The area has a wealth of both seasonal and migratory birds. Some of the species that can be spotted include the European roller, the Eurasian stone-curlew, the peregrine falcon, the osprey and the common sandpiper. The presence of the lake brought with it a number of aquatic species including the northern pintail, the common pochard, the northern shoveler, the Eurasian teal, the Eurasian wigeon, the coots, the common morhen, the mallard, the gadwall, the Greylag goose, the little egret, the great egret and the grey heron.
Also visible in the area are amphibians and reptiles, including toads, the European pond turtle
and the Hermann’s tortoise.
In 1997, after confirmation that there were structural failures in the old dam, a second dam was built further south, in the area of Busachi, named after Eleonora d’Arborea.
Nowadays, the old dam has become the ideal spot for a panoramic stop-off on the lake. From here, one can observe the various remains in the area, like the old House of the Santa Chiara dam’s operations manager which, at times when the lake is full, is almost completely underwater.
