Lake of Ledinci was a small artificial lake on the mountain of Fruška Gora

Fruška Gora

Fruška Gora is a mountain in north Syrmia. Most part of the territory is located within Vojvodina, Serbia, but a smaller part on its western side overlaps the territory of Croatia...

, near Novi Sad

Novi Sad

Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

, in the Srem

Syrmia

Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....

 region of the Vojvodina

Vojvodina

Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

 province of Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

.

The lake was created during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, when pumps in the abandoned trachyte

Trachyte

Trachyte is an igneous volcanic rock with an aphanitic to porphyritic texture. The mineral assemblage consists of essential alkali feldspar; relatively minor plagioclase and quartz or a feldspathoid such as nepheline may also be present....

 quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 of Srebro were damaged and stopped pumping the water out of the quarry. The subterranean waters, so as the waters from two creeks, Lukin Svetac and Srebrni potok began filling the quarry.

Characteristics

The lake covers an area of 4 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s and it is surrounded by steep cliffs from most sides, with a slope on the rest, allowing the swimmers to enter. It is bean

Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

-shaped, with length of about 400 metres and greatest width of about 100 m. The average depth is 15 m, and the biggest already reached 50 m. It lies on altitude

Altitude

Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...

 of 300 m. The water is characteristically green and clear, due to constant influx from feeding springs, and chilly even in hot summer days.

As the lake has no outflow, the water level continuously rose and represented a threat for the village of Stari Ledinci

Stari Ledinci

Stari Ledinci , also known simply as Ledinci , is a village located in the Petrovaradin municipality, one of two municipalities of Novi Sad City in Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The population of Stari Ledinci numbered 823 people in the 2002 census...

.

History

In late 1990s and early 2000s, exploitation rights on the lake were under a multilateral dispute by the local community, City of Novi Sad, the mining company "Alas" registered in Rakovac

Rakovac

Rakovac is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Beočin municipality which is in the Vojvodina province. Although, the village is geographically located in Syrmia, it is part of the South Bačka District. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,989 people as of...

, which owned the quarry exploitation rights, and the public company guiding the National park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 of Fruška gora. Due to frequent incoherent court and municipality decisions, the lake was at threat of disappearing at a moment, because the mining company required to be back in possession, and the lake was deemed unsafe due to possible water breakthrough. The rumours in 2006 that the rights for the continuing use of quarry were sold to a certain Austrian firm were repudiated by the National park of Fruška Gora management, saying that Assembly of Vojvodina already adopted a plan to keep the lake. Ultimatively, the disputes ended in favor of retaining the lake, which presents one of pearls of the National park, and making it a touristic resort.

The future of the lake is uncertain. In the period of 2001-2006, it was a small touristic resort

Resort

A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....

, and the local community of Stari Ledinci

Stari Ledinci

Stari Ledinci , also known simply as Ledinci , is a village located in the Petrovaradin municipality, one of two municipalities of Novi Sad City in Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The population of Stari Ledinci numbered 823 people in the 2002 census...

 village and the company that run it were ambitious to expand the tourist services. However, in June 2006, an avalanche

Avalanche

An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...

 from the stone walls injured several swimmers, and the public access to the lake was forbidden. Subsequently, the Republic Inspection for Environment Protection ordered the lake to be immediately emptied (as the old order from 2002 was not carried out), as the water level reached the edges, and started leaking out. Also, the Republic Bureau of Environmental Protection issued an opinion that the further stone exploitation must be ceased in the first phase, with appropriate protection and biological cultivation works performed, and the lake's purpose to be changed to a recreation site in the second phase.

In July 2009 the lake was emptied, and Alas continued operating the quarry after getting permits from the relevant ministries. The company claims that after the permit expires in 8 to 10 years, it will be recultivated and again turned into a lake, and be an anchor of future spectacular nature park. Ecologists and villagers remained suspicious toward those plans.

Trivia

In 2003, Zdravko Čolić

Zdravko Colic

Zdravko Čolić , is a pop singer popular across the entire area of former Yugoslavia. Originally from Sarajevo, since 1992 , his home is in Belgrade, Serbia...

 recorded a video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for his song "Ao, nono bijela" at the site of the Lake of Ledinci.

On the lake were recorded scenes for the film "We are not angels 3: Rock'n' roll strike back" (2006), And "Charleston for Ognjenka"(2008).