Thematic Route: The Cultural Heritage Route

Name of Touristic Attraction: The Bottomless Lake

Location: in Negreşti Village, Malovăţ Commune, Mehedinţi County. The village is at a distance of 19 km from Drobeta Turnu Severin.

Legend / Story / Impressions / Recommendations: The “Bottomless Lake”, also known as the “Lake of Oproiu”, has been known since the Second World War as the lake that never winds up or grows , regardless of the season. Thus, the locals called it “The Bottomless Lake”, but this lake does not appear on the map of Mehedinți County. The legend says that the waters of this lake hide the fortunes of the people who lived in the area, but also the German tanks. There were curious people who entered the waters of the lake, trying to see how deep it was, but they were pulled out by the currents. The legend even says that the lake would communicate with the center of the earth, due to its waters which at some point began to boil. The stories go on and claim that during the Second World War people would have dug a way under the lake to distract the German troops and that their tanks would have entered that road and would not have come to the surface. It is said that the lake would have been cursed by a girl who would have been scoffed at the shores of the lake and since then the lake would have become very ugly and haunted by evil spirits. Another story says that the villagers threw in the water several boxes of precious objects, fearing the predators, but they were unable to recover them because of the depth of the lake. Nowadays no one is trying to test its depth, much more so than a few years ago, some divers have tried to measure this lake, but their attempt has failed because at the moment they have descended about 90 meters underground, their costumes began to melt, and it is not known until today for what reason.

Information and Contact:

The lake is located on the administrative territory of Malovăţ Commune:

City Hall: tel: +40252 707 211, website: www.primariamalovat.ro

Route close to other thematic routes:

In the area you can also visit:

– Malovăţ fossil site

 GPS Coordinates: lat, long: 44.6819595, 22.768761100000006, elevation 356 m