| Lake Zurich Zürichsee |
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|---|---|
| Lake Zurich, Pfannenstiel and Sihl Valley, as seen from nearby Felsenegg (April 2010) | |
| Primary inflows | Linth (Linthkanal) |
| Primary outflows | Limmat |
| Catchment area | 1,829 km² |
| Basin countries | Switzerland |
| Max. length | 40 km (25 mi) |
| Max. width | 3 km (1.9 mi) |
| Surface area | 88.66 km² (34.4 mi²) |
| Average depth | 49 m |
| Max. depth | 143 m (469 ft) |
| Water volume | 3.9 km³ |
| Residence time | 440 days |
| Surface elevation | 406 m (1,342 ft) |
| Frozen | 1929, 1962/1963 (last) |
| Islands | Lützelau, Ufenau |
| Sections/sub-basins | Obersee |
| Settlements | see list |
Lake Zurich (Swiss German/Alemannic: Zürisee; German: Zürichsee) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates .
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.
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Geographically, Lake Zurich is located in the southwestern part of the canton of Zurich. To the east are – separated by Zürichberg-Adlisberg, Forch and Pfannenstiel – two minor lakes: Greifensee (Lake Greifen) and Pfäffikersee (Lake Pfäffikon). Zimmerberg and the Etzel regions lie to the west.
Lake Zurich is formed by the river Linth, which, rising in the glaciers of the Tödi Range in Glarus, which was diverted by the Escher canal (completed in 1811) into the Lake Walen, there by means of the Linth canal (completed in 1816), its waters are carried to the east end of the Lake of Zurich. The waters of the Lake of Zurich outflow from the lake at its north-west end, passing through the city of Zurich, however the outflow is then called the Limmat.
No streams of importance flow into the lake besides the Linth. It is included, or the greater portion, in the Canton of Zurich, but at its easterly end about 20 km² towards the southern shore are in Canton of Schwyz, and 10 km² towards its northern shore in Canton of St. Gallen. The large masonry dam (the Seedamm), carrying a railway line and road from Rapperswil to Pfäffikon, divides the lake. The eastern section of the lake is known as the Obersee, German for "upper lake". West of this dam lie the small islands of Lützelau and Ufenau, where in 1523 Ulrich von Hutten took refuge and died. Both shores are well cultivated and fertile. Another touristic destination is the Au peninsula at the village of Au between Wädenswil and Horgen.
The lake was frozen in the following years
The three population and transportation centres are Zurich, Pfäffikon SZ and Rapperswil.
Besides Bürkliplatz in Zurich and the Seedamm, there are no bridges across the lake.
The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft – the Lake Zurich Navigation Company – provides 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.
| Left shore ¹ | Right shore |
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Notes: ¹ Left shore from the entry of the Linth River, i.e. |
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Zurich, at the north-western end of the lake, is the largest city on Lake Zurich.
On the west shore (which gradually becomes the south shore) are Thalwil, Horgen, Wädenswil, Richterswil, Pfäffikon, and Lachen.
On the opposite shore are Küsnacht, Meilen, Stäfa, and Rapperswil-Jona with the medieval town of Rapperswil, whose castle is home to the Polish museum. Schmerikon is close to the east end of the lake, and a little further east is the larger town of Uznach.
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.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Z%C3%BCrichsee Zürichsee] at Wikimedia Commons Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Obersee_(Z%C3%BCrichsee) Obersee (Zürichsee)] at Wikimedia Commons
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