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Lake Herăstrău

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Romania · Bucharest and Wallachia

Lake Herăstrău

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Lacul Herăstrău

Part of Bucharest Lakes

Lake Herăstrău is an artificial lake in the northern part of Bucharest, on the Colentina River, between Lake Băneasa upstream and Lake Floreasca downstream. It is the biggest lake in the city, covers about 0.77 km² at its normal retention level and is surrounded by King Michael I Park. Its name comes from ferăstrău, the Romanian word for saw: a sawmill powered by the river stood on the estate of Șerban-Vodă Cantacuzino nearby. A lock built between 1933 and 1936 on the left bank connects it with Lake Floreasca, letting boats pass between the two and also draining the lake in heavy rain.

How it formed

The lake took its present form in the Colentina works of the 1930s, which also created Băneasa and Floreasca. Its park was laid out between 1936 and 1939 on land cleared of marsh, by Ernest Pinard, Friedrich Rebhuhn and Octav Doicescu.

Visit

Getting there

Nearest settlement: Bucharest

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

Herăstrău has the best leisure infrastructure of Bucharest’s lakes: rowing and pedal boats and small passenger boats on short routes in the warm season, from about April to October, and a promenade that links it with Floreasca and Bordei Park. From the centre it is 10–20 minutes by car on Șoseaua Kiseleff, and one of the main entrances is a short walk from Aviatorilor metro.

In the park are the open-air Village Museum, with houses from all over Romania, a Japanese Garden at its best in spring, the Summer Theatre, and tracks for jogging and cycling, with bike hire and playgrounds. See the Bucharest Lakes page for more.

Nearby lakes

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More lakes in Bucharest and Wallachia

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Sources & data

  1. Bucharest city council documents on Herăstrău (77 ha at normal retention level) and Floreasca (70 ha), Primăria Municipiului București
  2. OpenStreetMap: Lacul Herăstrău (relation 1130828), OpenStreetMap contributors
  3. English Wikipedia: Lake Herăstrău, Wikimedia Foundation
  4. Wikidata: Lake Herăstrău (Q2747597), Wikimedia Foundation
  5. Where you can go boating in Bucharest, Bucharest City Hall
  6. Herăstrău Park, Bucharest.ro
  7. Romanian Wikipedia: Lacul Floreasca, Wikimedia Foundation

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