Lake Zurich

From Openwaterpedia

Lake Zurich, also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich (Swiss German/Alemannic: Zürisee; German: Zürichsee) is a lake in Switzerland. Zürichsee is strictly the name of the part of the lake downstream of the dam at Rapperswil, mostly located within the canton of Zurich. The part upstream of the Rapperswil dam is called Obersee, and is shared between the cantons of St. Gallen and Schwyz. It is the location of the 26.4 km International Self-Transcendence Marathon-Swim from Rapperswil to Zurich.

The lake was frozen in the following years: 1223, 1259, 1262, 1407, 1491, 1514, 1517, 1573, 1600, 1660, 1684, 1695, 1709, 1716, 1718, 1740, 1755, 1763, 1789, 1830, 1880, 1891, 1895, 1929 and 1963.

The three population around the lake are Zurich, Pfäffikon SZ and Rapperswil. The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft – the Lake Zurich Navigation Company – offers with its 17 passenger ships touristic services on Lake Zurich. There are a number of passenger ferry services, noticeably the Horgen–Meilen ferry, an auto ferry between Horgen and Meilen.

Zurich, at the north-western end of the lake, is the largest city on Lake Zurich. On the opposite shore are Küsnacht, Meilen, Stäfa, and Rapperswil-Jona with the medieval town of Rapperswil.

Lake Zurich's water is very clean and reaches, during summer, temperatures well beyond 20°C. Swimming in the public baths and beaches is very popular. The lake's water is purified and fed into Zurich's water system; it is potable.

External links

• International Self-Transcendence Marathon-Swim information