The Village Is Under There (10 Photos)

November 6, 2026

By Vidar

Ten towers and churches left behind when the water rose

A bell tower in the middle of an Alpine lake. A minaret with ducks nesting on a raft at its foot. These towers and churches mark places flooded by reservoirs or, in one case, mining waste. Some stand in water; others reappear as water levels fall.

More: Houses in the Wrong Place (10 Photos)

🔔 Bell Tower of Curon — Lake Reschen, South Tyrol, Italy 🇮🇹

A 14th-century bell tower standing alone in Lake Reschen. The old village of Curon was flooded in 1950 for a hydroelectric reservoir, and almost 150 families, about 1,000 people, had to leave. Only the tower was left above the water.

💡 Winter Fact: When the lake freezes over, visitors can walk out and touch the tower.

📷 Photo and cover crop: Superchilum / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🕌 Sunken Mosque of Savaşan — Halfeti, Şanlıurfa, Turkey 🇹🇷

A minaret rising straight out of the Euphrates at Savaşan, with a floating duck house bobbing below it. The mosque itself is under the water and only the minaret stands above it, a regular stop for the boat tours from Halfeti. The stone houses of the old village climb the hill behind it.

💡 Dam Fact: The water came with the Birecik Dam around 2000, and in nearby Halfeti about half of the town was flooded; its people were moved about 15 kilometers away.

📷 Photo: Beytullah eles / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

⛪ Flooded Belfry — Kalyazin, Tver Oblast, Russia 🇷🇺

A tall white belfry on its own little island in the Volga at Kalyazin. The old part of town went under the Uglich Reservoir in 1939; the cathedral was taken down, but the belfry was kept. You can reach it by boat, or walk over the ice in winter.

💡 Restoration Fact: The belfry was built around 1800, and it was restored in 2021.

📷 Photo and cover crop: “Belfry of the Flooded Church of the Trinity in Kalyazin on the Volga River” by Larry Koester / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🏘️ St. Nicholas Church — Mavrovo Lake, North Macedonia 🇲🇰

A church half under the water of Mavrovo Lake, right below the houses of today’s village. It was built in 1850–1857 and flooded in 1953, when an artificial lake was made for a power plant.

📷 Photo: Ggia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

🌅 Church of the Nativity — Krokhino, Vologda Oblast, Russia 🇷🇺

A roofless church with water lapping at its walls where the Sheksna leaves Lake Beloye, at Krokhino. It was built in 1788, and the village was flooded in 1964 to create the Sheksna Reservoir. The church is all that is left of it.

💡 Volunteer Fact: Volunteers have come since 2011 to shore up its walls and foundation; the low barrier in front of it keeps the waves off.

📷 Photo: Sergey Ma-v / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

📏 Sant Romà de Sau — Vilanova de Sau, Catalonia, Spain 🇪🇸

A Romanesque bell tower and a few broken walls in the middle of the Sau reservoir. The church was consecrated in 1061–1062, and its village went under when the reservoir opened in 1962 to supply Barcelona with water.

💡 Water Fact: Locals use the tower as a gauge for the water level. In the 2023 drought the whole church stood on dry land.

📷 Photo: DagafeSQV / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), cropped

🤿 Old Church of Petrolândia — Pernambuco, Brazil 🇧🇷

The top of a church sticking out of the São Francisco river at Petrolândia. The old town was flooded in 1988 for the Luiz Gonzaga hydroelectric plant, and the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stayed where it was. Boat tours come within a few meters of it.

💡 Diving Fact: Divers can go inside the church, about 10 meters down.

📷 Photo: “Igreja Sagrado Coração de Jesus( submersa no Rio São Francisco)” by Bruno Capelii / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

☣️ Old Church of Geamăna — Alba County, Romania 🇷🇴

A church tower poking out of grey sludge at Geamăna. This lake is waste from the Roșia Poieni copper mine: dumping began in 1986, and the church, built in 1826, is slowly being swallowed. More than 300 families had to leave the village.

💡 Depth Fact: The old village now lies about 100 meters below the surface.

📷 Photo: “2020-10-11 — Geamăna, Alba – flooded church – 1” by Witold Waschut / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), cropped

🏝️ Towers of Old Itá — Santa Catarina, Brazil 🇧🇷

Two church towers on a rock island in the Itá reservoir. The Uruguay River was dammed and the old town went under in 2000, and the community asked for the towers to stay as a reminder of the place. The new Itá was built about 5 kilometers away.

💡 Night Fact: There is a viewpoint park on the shore, and the towers are lit up at night.

📷 Photo: LeonardoG / Wikimedia Commons (public domain), cropped

☀️ St. Ivan Rilski Church — Zapalnya, Sliven Province, Bulgaria 🇧🇬

A stone church on the dry lake bed at the Zhrebchevo reservoir. The village of Zapalnya was submerged in 1965 when the dam was built, and its people tore down their own houses before they left. In summer the water drops and the church comes out again, as here.

💡 Builder Fact: The church was built at the end of the 19th century by craftsmen from Tryavna.

📷 Photo: Ivan Hadji / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)