__NOTOC__ Lago Ritom is a lake 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,

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 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 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 similar to the nearby

Transport

The lake can be reached by funicular 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 (106%).

References

External links

Lago Ritom
- tourist information
Ritom funicular

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