Lake of Banyoles

Lake of Banyoles (or Estany de Banyoles in catalan) is a natural lake located in the city of Banyoles in Girona, in northeastern Catalonia.

It is named after the nearby town of Banyoles, to which it belongs entirely. On the western shore it borders with the town of Porqueres. The lake is approximately 2,100 m by 750 m with an average depth of 15 m that in several points gets down to 46.4 metres. It is located in a natural tectonic depression. Presently Lake of Banyoles is the largest natural lake in Catalonia.

There are both native and introduced fish species in the lake, like carp, gardí, bavosa de riu, sunfish, tench, black bass and eel. It is known that other fishes like the pike, the peix gat and the goldfish were introduced in the 19th century, but no specimens of those species have been found in recent surveys in the lake.

This lake became famous as the rowing location for the Barcelona Olympics 1992 and the World Rowing Championships in 2004. It is also a popular training location for many foreign rowers, particularly English rowers. It was also the site for the 1991 Junior World Rowing Championships.