Lake Vrana ( hr, Vransko jezero), in the centre of
Cres
Cres (; dlm, Crepsa, vec, Cherso, it, Cherso, la, Crepsa, Greek language, Greek: Χέρσος, ''Chersos'') is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, ...
island, is a fresh water lake, wide and about long. The town of Cres has been supplied with drinking water from the lake since 1953, and the towns of
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
and
Veli Lošinj
Veli Lošinj ( it, Lussingrande) is a village on the island of Lošinj in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. Veli Lošinj has a mild climate and caters to tourists. It is located 5 km from the town of Mali Lošinj. It was an ...
received their supplies ten years later.
[Naklada Naprijed,'' The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide'', pg. 103, Zagreb (1999), ] It was thought at one time that the water in the lake was linked to some mainland source by underground streams, but it has since been established that in fact it originates from the atmosphere.
Description
The lake is one of
cryptodepression
A cryptodepression is a depression in the Earth's surface that is below mean sea level, and which is filled by a lake. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek word ('hidden') and depression.
Description
A cryptodepression is often due to ...
characteristics. It was formed by very heavy tectonic movements along a longitudinal relaxation fault which now contains of fresh water. Comprising an area of ,
the depression reaches a depth of around below the sea level,
but its surface lies about above it, oscillating by about half a metre,
meaning the maximum depth is .
It is surrounded by mountains like the high
Mont Elmo and
Mount Perskra of .
The village of Vrana, above the lake, is located south of the
town of Cres.
The lake contains
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
,
tench
The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also ...
and
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
. There are also
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s, but their origin is still unclear.
Myth of Lake Vrana
There is a local legend that there is a castle under the lake. According to the legend, a rich sister who lived in the castle would not give her much poorer sister money or food. As a result, she was punished by having her castle flooded during a severe thunderstorm which caused Lake Vrana to be created. The story goes on to tell that on some windy days, if one is to listen very carefully the tower bells can still be heard ringing to this day.
See also
*
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Vrana
Landforms of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County
Cres
{{PrimorjeGorskiKotar-geo-stub