In Lake Carezza, once a beautiful water fairy lived - she often sat on the shore, braided her blond hair and sang quietly
Image gallery: Legend: The Water Fairy of Lake Carezza
One day, the warlock of Masaré passed the lake, heard the mermaid singing and fell in love with her. With all his magic power he tried to kidnap the lovely fairy but she could not be caught. So the warlock asked the witch Langwerda for help. Langwerda advised him to dress up as a jewellery dealer and conjure up a rainbow made of gems from Mt. Catinaccio to Mt. Latemar.
Then the warlock should go again to Lake Carezza, located at 1,520 m a.s.l., to attract and kidnap the virgin. No sooner said than done! But one thing the evil warlock forgot: to disguise himself. The water fairy admired the beautiful colours of the rainbow and the many gems. But she also noticed the magician who was hiding on the shore and suddenly dived back into Lake Carezza.
Since that day, she has never been seen again. The warlock was so angry about the failure of the planned kidnapping that he tore the rainbow from heaven, smashed it and threw the gems into the lake. This is the reason why Lake Carezza (Karer See, in German) still nowadays shimmers in the most magnificent rainbow colours and is called "Lec de ergobando", Rainbow Lake, in Ladin.