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 '' ...

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

(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. 2011-08-01 13-19-19 Switzerland Silvaplana 3hl

External links

* *
Waterlevels of Lake Silvaplana
at

Engadin Silvaplana

{{graubünden-lake-stub

See also

External links