Lipno Reservoir

Where is Lipno Reservoir?

Countries on its shores: Czechia.

Largest body of water of: Czechia.

Middle of the lake: 48.72° N, 14.10° E

The story behind it

The Czech Republic has no natural lake of this size. Its largest natural lake, Černé jezero, covers only about 18 hectares – less than a fifth of a square kilometre. So the biggest water in the country is this reservoir. The Vltava River used to flood often and damage towns further down, such as Český Krumlov. To protect them and to make electricity, a dam with a power station was built at Lipno between 1951 and 1960. The rising water covered the village of Dolní Vltavice and parts of Horní Planá and Frymburk. Soon people nicknamed the lake the «South Bohemian Sea». Today visitors swim, sail and surf here, and anglers catch carp, pike, zander and trout. Three ferries carry people across the water. In winter there are ski slopes nearby, and an ice-skating marathon is held every year.

Find it on the globe

Lipno Reservoir is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.