Lake Names and Anecdotes
Each of the Plitvice Lakes has a story or legend to tell. Most lake names stem from true events.
| Lake | Other names | Approximate translation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prošćansko jezero | Prošće | Scrub Lake or Crave Lake |
The name is due to the fences that have been built by farmers as delimitation between the farmlands and the lakes. The farmers used stakes (Croatian prošće), poles, scrub and earth to build these fences.
The Legend of the Black Queen, the legend on "prošnja" (praying the black Queen for water) says that the inhabitants of this region were craving for water and thus called upon the magic queen to help them, which she did. According to the legend, this is the reason why Prošćansko jezero and the other lakes have emerged. |
| Ciginovac | Cigino jezero Ciganovac jezero |
Gypsy's Lake | According to a legend, a roma (gypsy) drowned in this lake while fishing. |
| Okrugljak | Okruglić Okrugljaj Kruginovac |
Round Lake | The name stems from its round shape. |
| Batinovac | Batin Bakinovac |
Lake Batin/Batić's Lake | People reported that a villager named Batinić used to dwell at this lake. Others say that a grandmother (Croatian baka) might have drowned in this lake. |
| Veliko jezero | Jovinovac veliki | Large Lake | |
| Malo jezero | Jovinovac mali Veliko jezerce |
Small Lake | |
| Vir | Whirlpool | The name originates from water whirling downward in the middle of the lake. | |
| Galovac | Galov's/Galović's Lake | Allegedly, a bandit chief named captain Gal, who defeated the Turks, was shot down at this lake. It could also have been named after a brig and Galović. | |
| Milinovo jezero | Milino Jezerce | Mile's Lake | According to a legend, a man named Mile Marić from Stropina drowned in this lake. |
| Gradinsko jezero | Jezerce Jezerac |
Lake Gradina | The lake is named after a building (Croatian gradina) or monastery which had once been situated on the peak between Kozjak lake and this one. |
| Bukovi | Burgeti Bugeti |
Gush Lakes | A chain of small shallow lakes separated by travertine barriers, and covered by low vegetation. The name comes from agitated waterflow in small scars which make noise or "boil". |
| Kozjak | Kozje Jezero | Goat Lake | On the island in the middle of the lake (today Štefanijin otok, Stephanie's Lake) farmers used to protect their goats from wolves. The name originates from a legend, according to which 30 young goats were running away from wolves during winter. They drowned in the lake as the thin ice layer cracked. |
| Milanovac | Milanovo Jezero | Milan's Lake | According to a legend, the lake was named after a shepherd called Mile who drowned in it, or after the miller Mile Perišić who owned a mill at the lake. |
| Gavanovac | Gavanovo Jezero Osredak Jezero Okrugljak Donji |
Gavan's Lake | Allegedly, the treasure of a man named Gavan (the Gavanovo treasure) lies hidden in this lake. |
| Kaluđerovac | Kaluđerovo Jezero | Monk Lake or Hermit Lake | According to reports, a monk or hermit (Croatian kaluđer) used to live either in Šupljara Cave just next to the water or in Golubnjača Cave at the canyon edge. People used to seek advice from this monk. |
| Novakovića brod | Novaković's crossing | According to a tale, a hajduk named Novaković was thrown off his horse into this lake. Other reports say that a man named Novaković used to offer boat rides across this lake. |
Read more about this topic: Plitvice Lakes National Park
Famous quotes containing the words lake, names and/or anecdotes:
“Such were the first rude beginnings of a town. They spoke of the practicability of a winter road to the Moosehead Carry, which would not cost much, and would connect them with steam and staging and all the busy world. I almost doubted if the lake would be there,—the self-same lake,—preserve its form and identity, when the shores should be cleared and settled; as if these lakes and streams which explorers report never awaited the advent of the citizen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“And even my sense of identity was wrapped in a namelessness often hard to penetrate, as we have just seen I think. And so on for all the other things which made merry with my senses. Yes, even then, when already all was fading, waves and particles, there could be no things but nameless things, no names but thingless names. I say that now, but after all what do I know now about then, now when the icy words hail down upon me, the icy meanings, and the world dies too, foully named.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“They soon became like brothers from community of wrongs;
They wrote each other little odes and sang each other songs;
They told each other anecdotes disparaging their wives;
On several occasions, too, they saved each other’s lives.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)