Lake Peipus
|
Lake Peipsi - Landsat satellite photo |
Lake Peipus (
Estonian:
Peipsi järv,
Russian:
Чудское озеро (Chud Lake),
German:
Peipussee) is a large lake, on the border between
Estonia and
Russia in Northern
Europe.
It is the fourth largest lake in Europe, after
Lake Ladoga and
Lake Onega in Russia north of
St. Petersburg, and
Lake Vänern in
Sweden, followed by
Lake Saimaa and
Lake Inari in
Finland.
It covers
3,500 square kilometres, and has an average depth of 7m, the deepest point being 15m. The lake is used for fishing and recreation, but suffers from severe environmental degradation from industry.
In
1242 it was the site of the crucial
Battle of Lake Peipus (known in
Russia as Battle on the Ice) between the
Teutonic Knights and
Novgorodians under
Alexander Nevski.
*
Peipsi Infokeskus Estonian tourist information website
