Veliki Galijaš or just Galijaš (
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguat ...
Cyrillic
, bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця
, fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs
, fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic
, fam3 = Phoenician
, fam4 = G ...
: Велики Галијаш) is a canal turned lake on the
Great War Island, within the city of
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, the capital of
Serbia.
The former canal is one of the major physical features on the island. In time, the canal was cut off from the
Danube and effectively turned into a lake, with an area of 0.24 km² and became the major natural bird and fish spawning area on the island, with 196 bird and 90 fish species living in it. However, during the
droughty years the lake drained out completely causing damage to the closed
eco-system centred on it. In August 2007 the digging began of a 300 m-long canal which would reconnect Veliki Galijaš with the Danube and prevent the seasonal drying of the lake. After it was completed, fish from the Sava began swimming into the Veliki Galijaš. Fishing in the lake is forbidden as in the river zone up to 50m from the island's coastline.
Celebrating June 29, the international Day of the Danube, an eco-camp made of
pile dwelling
Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...
s for the students of the
Belgrade University was opened near the lake in 2007. A 15 m-high lookout is to be erected west of Veliki Galijaš so as the entire network of visitor centres on the unsinkable points around the lake and throughout the island for the studying of the bird life. Bio-laboratory is also scheduled for construction.
See also
*
List of lakes in Serbia
Most lakes of Serbia are artificial, created by damming numerous rivers of Serbia for the purpose of obtaining hydroelectric power or as water reservoirs. Natural lakes in the Pannonian Plain are shallow, occurred as river arms or bogs, or by aeol ...
References
*
Politika daily (2007 editions: February 1, p. 24; July 13, p. 25; July 14, p. 24; August 17, p. 23; 2008 editions: February 5; March 20, p. 25)
Geography of Belgrade
Lakes of Serbia
{{BelgradeRS-geo-stub