Gopło () is a ribbon lake in

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) in Poland. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian is one of 13 Polish constituency of the European Parliament. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly is the regional legislature of t ...

, north-central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, near the city of

Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...

. It gives its name to the

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

called Gopło Landscape Park. In early Middle Ages, the shores of Lake Gopło were home to a Lechitic tribe known as the Goplans. At the northern end of the lake stands the "Mice Tower" of

Kruszwica Kruszwica () is a town in central Poland, in the Inowrocław County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It has a population of 9,161 (2010). Initially founded in the 6th century, Kruszwica is the oldest town in the region and features a medieva ...

. Its name derives from a legend of the corrupt Prince Popiel, who fled to the tower from his rebelling population, and was devoured there by mice. Some historians and archaeologists consider the area the heart of the first state of the Polans, the "founding" tribe of Poland.Lozny, "Transition to Statehood", p. 283.

Notes

References

* Lozny, Ludomir (2004), "The Transition to Statehood in Central Europe", in Grinin, Leonid E, et al. (eds.), ''The Early State, Its Alternatives and Analogues'', Saratov: Uchitel Publishing House, , pp. 278–87 Lakes of Poland Lakes of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship {{KuyavianPomeranian-geo-stub