Gopło

Gopło
view from the Mouse Tower of Kruszwica
Primary inflows Noteć
Primary outflows Noteć
Basin countries Poland
Max. length 25 km
Max. width 3.5 km
Surface area 21.8 km²
Average depth 4.7 m
Max. depth 16.6 m
Surface elevation 77 m

Gopło [ˈɡɔpwɔ] is a lake in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland, near the city of Gniezno. It gives its name to the protected area called Gopło Landscape Park.

In early Middle Ages, the shores of Lake Gopło were home to a West Slavic tribe of Goplanie. At the northern end of the lake stands the Mouse Tower of Kruszwica. Its name derives from a legend of the corrupt Prince Popiel, whose fled to the tower from his rebelling population, and was devoured there by mice. Some historians and archaeologists consider the area the heart of the first state of the Polanie, the "founding" tribe of Poland.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ Lozny, "Transition to Statehood", p. 283.

References