Lake Silvaplana (german: Silvaplanersee; rm, Lej da Silvaplauna) is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in the Upper-
Engadine valley
The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is '' ...
of
Grisons
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. It takes its name from the village of
Silvaplana
Silvaplana ( Romansh: ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the name of a lake in the municipality.
History
The first sign of a settlement in the borders of the municipality are some Roman-era broken pi ...
. The lake is also connected to the nearby
Lej da Champfèr
Lake Silvaplana (german: Silvaplanersee; rm, Lej da Silvaplauna) is a lake in the Upper-Engadine valley of Grisons, Switzerland. It takes its name from the village of Silvaplana. The lake is also connected to the nearby Lej da Champfèr. Together ...
. Together with its larger neighbour,
Lake Sils, it is among the largest lakes of the Grisons. Lake Silvaplana is overlooked by several mountains over 3,000 metres, notably
Piz Corvatsch
Piz Corvatsch () is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, overlooking Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana in the Engadin region of the canton of Graubünden. With an elevation of , it is the highest point on the range separating the main Inn ...
,
Piz Julier
Piz Julier (German, rm, Piz Güglia) is a mountain of the Albula Alps, overlooking the Julier Pass, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. With a height of 3,380 metres above sea level, Piz Julier is the second highest peak (after Piz Calderas
...
and
Piz Surlej
Piz Surlej is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, overlooking Lake Silvaplana in the canton of Graubünden. It lies between the main Engadin valley and the Val Roseg, north of Piz Corvatsch
Piz Corvatsch () is a mountain in the Ber ...
. The lake's drainage basin culminates at
Piz Corvatsch
Piz Corvatsch () is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, overlooking Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana in the Engadin region of the canton of Graubünden. With an elevation of , it is the highest point on the range separating the main Inn ...
(3,451 m) and comprises several glaciers, the largest being the
Vadret dal Tremoggia.
A campsite is located on the Northern end of the lake. The lake is also used heavily for sports, such as
kitesurfing
Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...
and
windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...
in the summertime. In the winter, once the lake freezes, it is used for cross country skiing, walking trails, and kitesurfing on snow, with the famous
Engadin Skimarathon
The Engadin Skimarathon is an annual cross-country skiing race (ski marathon) held on the second Sunday of March in the upper Engadine valley ( Switzerland), between Maloja and S-chanf. It debuted in 1969 and has been a part of Worldloppet as lo ...
crossing the lake annually. The rare occasion of black ice also brings ice skaters to the lake.
In ''
Ecce Homo'',
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
recounts the moment he first conceived his idea of the
Eternal Recurrence
Eternal return (german: Ewige Wiederkunft; also known as eternal recurrence) is a concept that the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring, and will continue to recur in a self similar form an infinite number of times across in ...
while walking through the woods beside Lake Silvaplana in August 1881.
See also
*
Engadine Line
The Engadine Line is an over long strike-slip fault in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, which extends into Italy and Austria. It runs along the Engadine Valley (which formed on the fault) and the Bregaglia Valley and offsets Austroalpine and P ...
*
List of lakes of Switzerland
This article contains a sortable table listing all major lakes of Switzerland. The table includes all still water bodies, natural or artificial, that have a surface area of at least , regardless of water volume, maximum depth or other metric. Th ...
*
List of mountain lakes of Switzerland
This is a list of high-altitude lakes in Switzerland. It includes all significant lakes, natural or artificial, with an area over 4 hectares and a height over 800 metres above sea level. This height approximately corresponds to the transiti ...
External links
*
*
Waterlevels of Lake Silvaplanaat
Silvaplana
Silvaplana ( Romansh: ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the name of a lake in the municipality.
History
The first sign of a settlement in the borders of the municipality are some Roman-era broken pi ...
Silvaplana
Silvaplana ( Romansh: ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the name of a lake in the municipality.
History
The first sign of a settlement in the borders of the municipality are some Roman-era broken pi ...
Engadin
Silvaplana
Silvaplana
Silvaplana ( Romansh: ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the name of a lake in the municipality.
History
The first sign of a settlement in the borders of the municipality are some Roman-era broken pi ...
Silvaplana
Silvaplana ( Romansh: ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the name of a lake in the municipality.
History
The first sign of a settlement in the borders of the municipality are some Roman-era broken pi ...
{{graubünden-lake-stub