The Popovo Lake () is a

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

situated in the northern section of the

Pirin , photo=Pirin-mountains-Bansko.jpg , photo_caption=Pirin scenery in winter , country= Bulgaria, , parent= , geology= granite, gneiss, marble, limestone , area_km2=2585 , range_coordinates = , length_km=80 , length_orientation= north-s ...

mountain range, south-western

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. It is one of the eleven Popovi Lakes. The lake and its surroundings are among the most popular places for summer tourism in

Pirin National Park Pirin National Park ( bg, Национален парк "Пирин"), originally named Vihren National Park, encompasses the larger part of the Pirin, Pirin Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria, spanning an area of . It is one of the three natio ...

. It is situated at the bottom of the Popovski cirque and is surrounded by the peaks

Sivria Sivria ( bg, Сиврия) is a 2,591 m high peak in the Pirin mountain range, south-western Bulgaria. It is located in the northern part of Pirin on the Dzhangalitsa ridge that stems from Pirin's main ridge at the summit of Dzhano (2,668&nb ...

(2,591 m),

Dzhano Dzhano ( bg, Джано ) is a 2,668 m high peak in the Pirin mountain range, south-western Bulgaria. It is located in the northern part of Pirin on the mountain's main ridge between Demirkapia Saddle and the summit of Chengelchal (2,709&n ...

(2,668 m),

Kralev Dvor Kralev Dvor ( bg, Кралев двор) is a 2,680 m high peak in the Pirin mountain range, south-western Bulgaria. It is located on the southern part of the main mountain ridge. It is a pyramidal peak formed by cirque erosion by the glacier ...

(2,680 m),

Momin Dvor Momin Dvor ( bg, Момин двор ) is a 2,723 m high peak in the Pirin mountain range, south-western Bulgaria. It is located in the northern part of Pirin on its main ridge between the summits of Kralev Dvor (2,680 m) and Dzhengal ...

(2,723 m) and

Dzhengal Dzhengal () is a peak on the Bulgarian Pirin mountain range. It is situated in one of the external ridges of the mountain, the Polejan Ridge, between the Dzhengal Gate and Momin Dvor Peak and towers to the west of the Popovo Lake. It is 2,730 m h ...

(2,730 m). The lake is situated at an altitude of 2,234 m. Popovo Lake is Pirin's largest by area and volume, and also the deepest one in the massif. It has the shape of irregular pentagon and features a small islet. The maximum length is 480 m; the width is 336 m. Its surface area is 123,600 m², which places it fourth among

's glacial lakes by total area, after Smradlivo Lake, the Upper Fish Lake and Bliznaka, all of them in the

Rila Rila ( bg, Рила, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Mountains, Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Mus ...

mountain range. It is 29.5 m deep is second in the country after Okoto Lake in Rila, which reaches depth of 37.7 m. Its volume is around 1,270,000 m³. In summer the water temperature reaches 14–16 °C at the surface and decreases to 5–6 °C in the deeper layers. Popovo Lake takes water from rainfall, snowfall and two tiny springs which pour into the southern end of the lake. The biggest amount of water can be observed in late spring during the snow melting from surrounding peaks. The water that pours out of the lake forms the river Retizhe, a right tributary of the

Mesta The ''Mesta'' () was a powerful association protecting livestock owners and their animals in the Crown of Castile that was incorporated in the 13th century and was dissolved in 1836. Although best known for its organisation of the annual migrat ...

. The Retizhe flows to the seven Fish Popovski Lakes and drains the whole Popovski cirque. The area around the lake is dotted with meadows and mountain pine (''

Pinus mugo ''Pinus mugo'', known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Sou ...

''), whose age is above 100 years at places. In

Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...

the name of the lake means the Lake of the Priest. There are two legends about it origin. According to the more popular one, a priest threw himself into the water because the Ottoman Turks had violated his daughter. His cap surfaced and made the little islet in the middle of the lake. The other legend suggests that after the

Christianization of Bulgaria The Christianization of Bulgaria was the process by which 9th-century medieval Bulgaria converted to Christianity. It reflected the need of unity within the religiously divided Bulgarian state as well as the need for equal acceptance on the in ...

in the 9th century, a priest decided to climb the Pirin mountain and expel the Slavic god

Perun In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, firmam ...

. He found him but Perun was enraged by his audacity and threw him into the lake. Again, his cap emerged from the water and formed the islet.

Gallery

File:Pirin - Popovo ezero - IMG 4657.jpg File:Pirin - Popovo ezero, Djangal - IMG 5689.jpg File:Поповото езеро.jpg File:Popovo ezero.JPG

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Dushkov, 1972 , title = Пирин. Туристически речник , trans-title = Pirin. Tourist Dictionary , last1 = Душков (Dushkov) , first1 = Добри (Dobri) , year = 1972 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

) , isbn = Lakes of the Pirin