'Lake Millstatt' (, sometimes written "Millstättersee") is an
alpine lake in
Carinthia,
Austria.
General facts
Lake Millstatt is situated in the
Central Eastern Alps, near the
town of
Spittal an der Drau. With a surface area of 13.3 km² it is the second largest lake of Carinthia, though with 142
metres by far the deepest and most voluminous. Its steep shore gives the lake a
fjord-like character. The mountains in the north are up up to 2,100 metres high and protect it from cold winds, so the
water temperature at the surface can reach 25 °
C in summer. In the south the
wooded Hochgosch
plateau with a breadth of 2 km and an
elevation of 900 metres divides the lake from the
Drava valley.
The name derives from the
market town Millstatt at the shore. Other
municipalities near the lake are
Seeboden and
Radenthein-Döbriach. The
shaded southern shore is almost uninhabited.
Numerous
brooks flow into the lake, of which the Riegerbach near Döbriach is the biggest. At the western end of the lake the short Seebach
stream leads the water into the
Lieser river, which itself is a
tributary of the Drava.