Barred from the sea by a 15-km strip of dunes, this large lake and its elongated shallow neighbour Lago di Lesina are part of a primeval landscape noted for eels, wading birds, heather, rosemary and misty twilights which have given rise to macabre superstitions. Hardly touched by tourism, Varano is a silent reproach to the adjacent, more populated lagoon, where inns and fish restaurants proliferate.