Lake Ossiach (german: Ossiacher See, sl, Osojsko jezero) is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...

. It is the state's third largest lake, superseded only by Lake Wörth and Lake Millstatt.

Geography

It is situated in the southern

Nock Mountains The Nock Mountains (german: Nockberge or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the Gurktal Alps in Austria, spread over parts of the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria. Their appearance is characterised ...

range of the

Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (german: Gurktaler Alpen, sl, Krške Alpe) is a mountain range located in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria, named after the valley of the Gurk river. The range stretches west to Lake Millstatt and east to Neumarkter Sattel ...

along the road from

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

to Feldkirchen, at a height of AA. It reaches a maximum depth of , the surface area is about . Ossiacher See is a

dimictic lake A dimictic lake is a body of freshwater whose difference in temperature between surface and bottom layers becomes negligible twice per year, allowing all strata of the lake's water to circulate vertically. All dimictic lakes are also considered ho ...

with mixing periods in spring and in late autumn. In summer the waters reach 28 °C at the surface. Several uninhabited parts of the shore are

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

as natural reserves. The main inflow is the Tiebel creek in the eastern bay, where the Bleistatt mire is currently re-naturalised. The lake empties via the Seebach stream to the

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

river. There are five main villages surrounding the lake, all of them mainly dependent on summer tourism: Annenheim and Sattendorf, both parts of the Treffen municipality, Bodensdorf and Steindorf, all located on the northern shore, as well as

Ossiach Ossiach ( sl, Osoje) is a municipality in the Feldkirchen District in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The small settlement is mainly known for Ossiach Abbey. Geography It is located at the southern shore of Lake Ossiach, on the slope of the sm ...

with Ossiach Abbey, after which the lake is named. The Gerlitzen mountain on the northern shore rises up to , offering panoramic views over the surrounding ranges. From Annenheim, the Kanzelhöhe subpeak can be reached by cable car, built in 1928 by the

Bleichert Bleichert, short for Adolf Bleichert & Co., was a German engineering firm founded in 1874 by Adolf Bleichert. The company dominated the aerial wire ropeway industry during the first half of the 20th century, and its portfolio included cranes, el ...

engineering company.

External links

*
Carinthian Institute of Limnology
Lakes of Carinthia (state) Mountain lakes {{Carinthia-geo-stub

Geography

See also

External links