Croatia · Lika-Karlovac

Prošćansko jezero

Directions

Prošćansko Jezero is a lake in Lika-Senj County, one of the Upper Lakes of the Plitvice Lakes and, together with Kozjak, one of the two largest lakes of the national park. The lakes of Plitvice are arranged in cascades, one below another, and Prošćansko belongs to the upper group. It takes its name from the stakes (proće) that were once used there.

How it formed

Prošćansko jezero is the first and highest of the Upper Lakes. The Crna and Bijela rijeka, the streams that form the Matica, flow into it through Liman Draga, a bay almost a kilometre long, and at its lower end the lake spills over the Labudovac barrier and waterfall into Ciginovac and Okrugljak. Like the other Upper Lakes it lies on impermeable dolomite, held back by tufa barriers.

History

Its name is said to come from prošće, the stakes once driven in here, but legend links it to prayer. In a great drought, the story goes, the people of Plitvice prayed for rain until the Black Queen heard them; the rain fell for days and the lakes appeared, and Prošćansko remembers the people’s prayers. In thanks they built her a castle on the hill above Kozjak.

Nature

Gentle hills covered in tall coniferous and deciduous forest surround the lake, and their autumn and spring colours are reflected in its wide, dark-green water. The left bank is a protected area closed to visitors.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

Prošćansko jezero, the largest of the upper lakes, is tied to the legend of the Black Queen: villagers suffering from drought prayed to a magic queen, who brought water, and the lakes formed. It lies in Plitvice Lakes National Park, where bathing and swimming in the lakes has been strictly forbidden since 2006, and where entrance rules, boat and visitor limits apply. See the Plitvice Lakes pages for tips on when to go.

The Labudovac stop of the park’s panoramic train is the starting point of two long forest trails, the Plitvica trail of about 9 km and the Čorkova uvala trail of about 21 km, both ending at the Kozjačka draga dock. Keep to the marked paths, and do not feed the animals or pick plants.