Lake Bled

---

title: "Lake Bled" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lakes-of-upper-carniola", "rowing-venues", "lakes-of-the-julian-alps", "bled", "sava-basin", "wetlands-of-slovenia", "islands-of-slovenia"] description: "Lake in northwestern Slovenia" topic_path: "general/lakes-of-upper-carniola" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bled" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Lake in northwestern Slovenia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]

Field	Value
name	Lake Bled
native_name	sl
image	Lake_Bled_from_the_Mountain.jpg
caption	Lake Bled seen from Little Osojnica Hill
pushpin_map	Slovenia
location	Julian Alps
coords
inflow	Natural springs, Mišca
outflow	Jezernica
basin_countries	Slovenia
length	2120 m
width	1380 m
area	1.45 km2
max-depth	29.5 m
volume	0.0257 km3
elevation	475 m
islands	Bled Island
cities	Bled
::

| name = Lake Bled | native_name =sl | image = Lake_Bled_from_the_Mountain.jpg | caption = Lake Bled seen from Little Osojnica Hill | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | pushpin_map = Slovenia | location = Julian Alps | coords = | lake_type = | inflow = Natural springs, Mišca | outflow = Jezernica | catchment = | basin_countries = Slovenia | length = 2120 m | width = 1380 m | area = 1.45 km2 | depth = | max-depth = 29.5 m | volume = 0.0257 km3 | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = 475 m | frozen = | islands = Bled Island | cities = Bled | reference = Lake Bled () is a lake in the Julian Alps of the Upper Carniolan region of northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The area is a tourist destination. The lake is 35 km from Ljubljana International Airport and 55 km from the capital city, Ljubljana. Lake Bled is 4.2 km from the Lesce–Bled train station.

Geography and history

The lake is of mixed glacial and tectonic origin. It is 2120 m long and 1380 m wide, with a maximum depth of 29.5 m, and it has a small island. The lake lies in a picturesque environment, surrounded by mountains and forests.

Lake Bled was an important cult centre during the Bronze Age. Gold appliqués dating from the 13th-12th century BC were found in a deposit by the lake shore. The embossed decorations on the appliqués are thought to represent the solar and lunar years. Similar appliqués have been discovered in Switzerland, Bavaria and Hungary, mainly in Bronze Age fortified settlements and in the graves of wealthy women.

Medieval Bled Castle stands above the lake on the north shore and has a museum. The Zaka Valley lies at the west end of the lake.

The World Rowing Championships were held at Lake Bled in 1966, 1979, 1989, and 2011.

For centuries, Europeans have flocked to the shores of Lake Bled to enjoy recreation, but also the medicinal benefits. Emperor Henry II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, enjoyed the lake so much that he built Bled Castle in 1004 to confer it as an estate. Today the castle is a popular tourist attraction.

Bled Island

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Sunrise_at_Lake_Bled.jpg" caption="sp=us}} tower."] ::

The lake surrounds Bled Island (Blejski otok). The island has several buildings, the main one being the pilgrimage church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary (Cerkev Marijinega vnebovzetja), built in its current form near the end of the 17th century. It is decorated with remains of Gothic frescos from around 1470 in the chancel, and with rich Baroque furnishing.

The church has a 52 m tower and there is a Baroque stairway dating from 1655 with 99 stone steps leading up to the building. The church is frequently visited and weddings are held there regularly. Traditionally it is considered good luck for the groom to carry his bride up the steps on the day of their wedding before ringing the bell and making a wish inside the church.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Full_pletna_in_front_of_Bled_Castle,_Bled,_2013.jpg" caption="A modern ''pletna'' shows tourists around the lake."] ::

The traditional transportation to Bled Island is a wooden boat known as a pletna. The word pletna is a borrowing from Bavarian German Plätten 'flat-bottomed boat'. Some sources claim the pletna was used in Lake Bled as early as AD 1150, but most historians date the first boats to AD 1590.

Similar in shape to Italian gondolas, a pletna seats 20 passengers. Modern boats are still made by hand and are recognizable by their colorful awnings. Pletna oarsman employ the stehruder (standing rowing) technique to propel and navigate boats across the lake using two oars. The role of the oarsman dates back to 1740, when Maria Theresa of Austria granted 22 local families exclusive rights to ferry religious pilgrims across Lake Bled to worship on Bled Island. The profession is still restricted. Many modern oarsmen descend directly from the original 22 families.

Gastronomy

The area's culinary specialty, a cream pastry (kremna rezina or kremšnita 'Cremeschnitte'), was designated a protected dish of designated origin in 2016 by the Slovene government. Slovene cream pastries date back to the Habsburg era. The current "official" recipe was created in 1953 by Ištvan Lukačević, the former manager of the Hotel Park's patisserie.

There is an annual festival dedicated to the pastry. It is estimated that 12 million cream pastries have been prepared at the Hotel Park's patisserie over the last 60 years.

Gallery

File:Bled-Island-Castle-2021-Luka-Peternel.jpg|Bled Island with the church (left) and Bled Castle (right) File:Bled island 2021.jpg|Bled Island File:Lake bled 2021.jpg|Bled Island with Bled Castle behind File:Lake Bled gold1.jpg|alt=Gold appliqués from Lake Bled, Late Bronze Age, 13th–12th century BC.|Gold appliqués from Lake Bled, Late Bronze Age, 13th–12th century BC

References

References

1. (2022). "Two appliqués".
2. Lake Bled Castle (https://safarinomad.com/lake-bled-castle/ {{Webarchive. link. (2021-03-24 ))
3. "1966 Bled World Rowing Championships - Australian Rowing History".
4. (2014-10-21). "1979 Bled World Championships - Australian Rowing History".
5. (June 2023). "World Rowing - 1989 World Rowing Championships - Blejsko jezero/Bled, Slovenia".
6. (2016-03-19). "2011 World Rowing Championships / Overview - worldrowing.com".
7. "All You Need To Know To Visit Bled Castle In Slovenia - Travel Slovenia".
8. "Podružnična cerkev Marijinega vnebovzetja na Otoku na Bledu".
9. "The Pletna boat - Bled".
10. (2003). "Slovenski etimološki slovar". Modrijan.
11. "The Pletna boat - Bled".
12. Sims, Davy. (2018). "Bled Slovenia". Firsthand Guides.
13. "The Pletna boat - Bled".
14. "A Slovenian resort is synonymous with a cream cake :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija".
15. (2015-10-02). "Lake Bled Cream Cake: A Confection Straight from the Storybooks".
16. d.o.o., Renderspace d.o.o. & AV studio. "The original Bled cream cake - Sava Hotels & Resorts".
17. "A Slovenian resort is synonymous with a cream cake :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija".
18. (2022). "Two appliqués".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::