Lake Rożnow ( pl, Jezioro Rożnowskie) is an

artificial lake 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 ...

, built in 1935–1941. It is located in southernmost part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

( Lesser Poland Voivodeship). The lake was built in the interwar period to regulate the Dunajec river flowing through the foothills of Beskid Mountains; and also, to provide electricity for the Rożnow Power Plant (''Elektrownia Rożnow'') built into the dam. The lake took two years to fill which took place during World War II, from mid 1941 until 1943. It was named after the village of Rożnow.

History

Lake Rożnow was created not long before the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, after a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

had been built on the 80th kilometre distance of the Dunajec river. It lies among the hills of the

Island Beskids The Island Beskids (in Polish, ''Beskid Wyspowy'') is a mountain range in southern Poland, part of the Western Beskids of the Outer Western Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. B ...

, in

Nowy Sącz County __NOTOC__ Nowy Sącz County ( pl, powiat nowosądecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result o ...

, some 12 kilometers north of Nowy Sącz. The valley of the Dunajec narrows here, turning into a canyon. The lake has the shape of an irregular letter S, with length ranging from 18 to 20 kilometres, and width of 1 app. kilometre (in few spots, it widens to no more than 2 kilometres). The depth of the reservoir reaches up to 30 metres near the dam. The total area of Rożnow Lake ranges from 16 to 20 square kilometres. The

shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

is marked by numerous peninsulas and bays, located at the mouths of several smaller rivers, which flow into the Dunajec. The lake is surrounded by forested hills, and its picturesque location makes it a very popular tourist center. Several tourist villagers are located along Lake Rożnow: Tegoborze, Znamirowice, Zbyszyce, Bartkowa, Grodek nad Dunajcem, Tabaszowa, Rożnow. Lake Rożnow has a small island, called Malpia Wyspa (Monkey Island). It used to be a hill with an ancient gord, which was turned into an island in 1942, after the Dunajec valley had been flooded. Currently, Monkey Island serves as a bird reserve, with as many 165 bird species living here. The idea of construction of a dam on the Dunajec river in Rożnow was born after the disastrous 1934 flood in Poland. Due to lack of funds, the project was postponed until 1937, when first land purchases were made. The dam was built by a Polish-French company, which constructed a special settlement for the workers and engineers (the so-called French Colony), together with narrow gauge rail line to a stone quarry at Marcinkowice. Construction was interrupted after the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, but as early as November 1939, German authorities of the General Government decided to continue it, using Polish plans. The dam together with the power plant was completed in 1942. It is built from concrete, with the height of 44 meters, and the length of 550 meters.

References

History and description of Lake Roznow

External links

Lake Roznow Tourist Service

Association of Lake Roznow Communes

Lemon Resort SPA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Roznow Roznow Nowy Sącz County Roznow