Lake, Umbria , central Italy.
The largest lake of the Italian peninsula, it has an area of 49 sq mi (128 sq km) and is shallow, with a maximum depth of 20 ft (6 m). It is fed by small streams and has an artificial subterranean outlet (opened 1898) to the Tiber River . In 217 BC Hannibal defeated a Roman army led by Flaminius there in the Second Punic War . In World War II it was the scene of severe fighting (1944) between the British and German armies.