Lake Velence ( ; ), an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

, is the third largest natural lake in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It is a popular holiday destination among Hungarians. The lake has an area of 26 km², one third of which is covered by the common reed. Because of the sunny climate of the area and the shallowness of the lake, it is one of the warmest lakes in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

: its temperature in the summer may reach 26 to 28 °C.

Location

Lake Velence is located in

Fejér county Fejér (, ) is an administrative county in central Hungary. It lies on the west bank of the river Danube and nearly touches the eastern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Veszprém, Komárom-Esztergom County ...

, close to the M7 motorway between

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

, at the foot of the Velence Hills.

Settlements along the shore

Gárdony Gárdony is a town in Fejér county, Hungary. It is located 55 km () from Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Etymology The name Gárdony is believed to have originated in the early 13th century. History There is at least one known writing dating ...

Agárd Agárd is a small village on the shores of Lake Velence in Hungary, administratively belongs to the municipality (town) of Gárdony. It is a popular tourist destination amongst Hungarians. The village was initially named ''Agar'', shows a record ...

** Dinnyés *

Kápolnásnyék Kápolnásnyék is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. History The excavations in the surroundings revealed bronze-age artifacts, proving that the area was already populated in ancient times. The name of the settlement originates from th ...

* Nadap *

Pákozd Pákozd is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. Set between Lake Velence and the granite dome of the Velence Hills, Pákozd covers of rolling loess and ancient crystalline outcrops just off the M7, 15 km north-west of Székesfehérv� ...

Pázmánd Pázmánd is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. Situated between Lake Velence and the quartzitic tors of the Velence Hills, it covers of gently rising loess and ancient granite, approximately from the lake shore and south-west of Budape ...

Sukoró Sukoró is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. History Sukoró was originally referred to as Sokoró in documents in 1270. In preparation for the Battle of Pákozd, Lajos Kossuth held a war council meeting in a Calvinist Reformed Chr ...

Velence Velence is a town in the county of Fejér, Hungary, on the shore of Lake Velence. Its name is the same in Hungarian as that of the Italian city of Venice, though they are suffixed differently: "in Velence" is ''Velencén'', while ''Velencében'' ...

** Velence-újtelep ** Velencefürdő * Vereb * Zichyújfalu

Wildlife

A part of the lake is a

bird reserve A bird reserve (also called ornithological reserve) is a wildlife refuge designed to protect bird species. Like other wildlife refuges, the main goal of a reserve is to prevent species from becoming endangered or extinct. Typically, bird species in ...

with a lot of species.

Events

The lake was the venue for the World Rowing Masters Regatta in September 2019.

Gallery

File:Civertanvelenceitolegi1.jpg File:Velence 1.jpg File:Velenceitó légifotó.jpg File:Velencei-to este.jpg File:Velence Lake Hungary.jpg File:Lake Velence 005.JPG File:Lake Velence 004.JPG File:View from Madárvárta tower to Lake Velence and Velence hills, Agárd, 2017 Gárdony.jpg File:Velence, Velencei-tó, 19.jpg File:Velence, Velencei-tó, 52.jpg File:Velence, Velencei-tó.jpg File:Velence-ResortSpa-beach.JPG File:Naplemente a tó felett.jpg File:Este a tónál.jpg File:A Velencei-hegység.jpg File:A tó képe Agárd felől.jpg

References

External links

Google Maps of Lake Velence

Aerial photographs

Lake Velence at funiq.hu

Geography of Fejér County Tourist attractions in Fejér County Endorheic lakes of Europe {{Fejer-geo-stub