Lake Gistova

Lake Gistova
View of lake Gistova in the winter
Lake Gistova
LocationGramos mountain
Coordinates40°21′53″N 20°47′26″E / 40.3646°N 20.7905°E / 40.3646; 20.7905
Lake typeAlpine lake
Basin countriesGreece
Surface elevation2,365 m (7,759 ft)

Lake Gistova (Greek: Λίμνη Γκιστόβα; Albanian: Liqeni i Gistovës), also known as Drakolimni (Δρακολίμνη; similar to other lakes in northwestern Greece), is a small lake on the Greek-Albanian border. It is the highest alpine lake in Greece, and one of the highest in the Balkans. It is located at an elevation of about 2,365 metres (7,759 ft), on the Gramos mountain, and has a regular elliptical shape. The maximum depth is around 4 m. The lake gets the water from the melting of ice-snow in a caldera on the tip of a pike of the mountain complex, and it is free of ice for about four months of the year. The newt species Ichthyosaura alpestris veluchiensis inhabits the lake.