Lake Faak (; ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

. With an area of approximately , it is the state's fifth-largest lake.

Geography

Egg Faakersee Nischenbildstock 07052008 06

The lake is located southeast of

Villach Villach (; ; ; ) 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 population is 61,887. Together wit ...

in the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

Valley, below the northern slope of the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

mountain range beneath Mt. Mittagskogel (Kepa). The settlements of Drobollach and Egg on the northern shore belong to the City of Villach. The village of Faak to the southwest, after which the lake is named, is part of the municipality of Finkenstein. It is the only lake in Carinthia located on the right bank of Drava River). Lake Faak, known for its clear turquoise water, is a popular

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

destination with a wide range of hotels and restaurants on the shore. European Bike Week, the largest motorcycle rally in Europe, is annually held at the lake in September. Fishing, especially for whitefish (''Reinanke'') but also for

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

, pike,

wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

, and

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also includes perch, Gymnocephalus, ruffe and Darter (fish), darter. It is found in freshwater and brackis ...

, is quite common. In 1855, Lake Faak inspired the local priest Franc Treiber to compose the song ''Nmav čez izaro'' (Over the Lake), which soon became one of the best-known Slovene folk songs, and still today is considered the unofficial anthem of the

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians (; ; ) are the Indigenous peoples, indigenous minority of Slovenes, Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of the minority group ...

.Info at gorenjskiglas.si

References

External links

Carinthian Institute of Limnology

Tourism site
Lakes of Carinthia Mountain lakes {{Carinthia-geo-stub