Red Lake

How it formed

Red Lake is a sinkhole: it is presumed to have formed when the roof of a large cave hall collapsed, as the nearby Blue Lake did. Water drains out of the basin through underground passages that run below the lake floor. A large part of the western wall fell in during an earthquake near Imotski in 1942.

A local legend tells of the Gavan palaces that once stood above the lake and sank into the earth, leaving the lake in their place.

History

The Croatian Speleological Association organised an international cave-diving expedition in 1998, which measured the height of the cliffs and the depth of the lake. Later surveys, among them a submarine survey in 2013, found different depths, and in 2017 a French cave diver became the first person to reach the bottom. The pit has been studied by researchers including Philipp Ballif and Artur Gavazzi.

New findings were reported at the International Congress of Speleology in 2001, among them an inflow channel discovered in the eastern part of the lake.

The legend of Gavan's palace

According to the story, an arrogant woman, the wife of a rich man called Gavan, defied God, and as punishment their grand house, Gavanovi dvori, vanished into the abyss and left the lake in its place.

Nature

Red Lake is home to two endemic and endangered fishes, the spotted minnow and the Imotski spined loach. In the dry season they are occasionally seen in the springs, rivers and lakes around it, which suggests that the lake is connected underground with other waters.