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Aleksandar Stamboliyski Reservoir

Photo: Elena Chochkova · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bulgaria · Northern Bulgaria

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Reservoir

Directions

язовир Александър Стамболийски

The Aleksandar Stamboliyski reservoir is a large lake of about 17 km² on the middle course of the Rositsa in northern Bulgaria, about 18 km long, among forested hills and rocky gorges. The dam stands 18 km from Pavlikeni and 50 km from Veliko Tarnovo.

How it formed

Work on the dam began in 1940 and ended in 1954. It is a masonry gravity wall 66 m high and 380 m long, known until 1953 as the Rositsa dam. It supplies an irrigation system and three small power stations, and the Krapets and other streams flow into the lake.

History

The village of Bara was displaced for the dam, around 1952, and its site is now on the lake.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

The road between Kramolin and Gorsko Kosovo follows the north shore for about 6 km, and Suhindol is 13 km from the dam. Anglers come for carp, catfish, pike, perch and bleak.

Guided kayak day tours from Veliko Tarnovo paddle from the wide open water into narrow stretches below rock faces, through a gorge and up a forested reach to a picnic place that can only be reached by water. The water is clear enough in many parts to see the bottom.

Nearby lakes

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More lakes in Northern Bulgaria

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Sources & data

  1. Bulgaria's 2022 Water Framework Directive reporting to the EEA: lake (LW) and transitional (TW) water bodies, field cArea, European Environment Agency (WISE WFD), reported by Bulgaria, 2022
  2. OpenStreetMap: яз. Александър Стамболийски (way 501801423), OpenStreetMap contributors
  3. Wikidata: Aleksandar Stamboliyski Reservoir (Q12271570), Wikimedia Foundation
  4. Bulgarian Wikipedia: Александър Стамболийски (язовир), Wikimedia Foundation
  5. Stamboliski dam lake kayaking day tour, The Abroad Guide

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