__NOTOC__ Lago Ritom 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

Piora valley ''Piora'' is a genus of Papuasian plants in the tribe Astereae within the family Asteraceae. ;Species The only known species is ''Piora ericoides'', native to the island of New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, o ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

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 ...

. The natural lake is used as a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

by the Swiss Federal Railways (

SBB-CFF-FFS Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

) to generate hydro-electric power for the

Gotthard line The Gotthard railway (german: Gotthardbahn; it, Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between nort ...

. The first dam was built in 1918 and, in 1950, its height was increased by 23 m.

Overview

The lake's surface area is 1.49 km² at an elevation of 1850 m. With

Lake Cadagno __NOTOC__ Lake Cadagno (Italian: ''Lago di Cadagno'') is a meromictic lake in the Piora valley (canton of Ticino), Switzerland. As one of a few meromictic lakes in Europe, it is the object of numerous scientific studies. The Piora valley - located ...

and

Lago di Tom __NOTOC__ Lago di Tom is a lake in the Piora Valley, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Its surface area is . See also *List of mountain lakes of Switzerland This is a list of high-altitude lakes in Switzerland. It includes all significant ...

, it is one of the main lakes in the Piora valley. Before being used as a reservoir, Lake Ritom was a

meromictic lake A meromictic lake is a lake which has layers of water that do not intermix. In ordinary, holomictic lakes, at least once each year, there is a physical mixing of the surface and the deep waters. The term ''meromictic'' was coined by the Austr ...

similar to the nearby

Transport

The lake can be reached by

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

from Piotta 786 m below. The track with a length of 1,369 m has a maximum inclination of 87.8%,History of Ritom funicular
/ref> the highest in Europe after the

Gelmerbahn funicular The Gelmer Funicular is a cable railway in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It links a lower terminus at Handegg, in the Haslital (the valley of the upper Aar River), with an upper terminus at the Gelmersee lake. The Gelmerbahn was the steepe ...

(106%).

References

External links

Lago Ritom
- tourist information
Ritom funicular

Lakes of Ticino Reservoirs in Switzerland {{ticino-lake-stub