Lake of Banyoles

Lake of Banyoles Estany de Banyoles
Location	Banyoles, Catalonia
Coordinates	42°07′31″N 2°45′19″E / 42.12528°N 2.75528°E / 42.12528; 2.75528Coordinates: 42°07′31″N 2°45′19″E / 42.12528°N 2.75528°E / 42.12528; 2.75528
Primary inflows	Rec d'en Morgat, Riera del Vilar, Rec Major, Rec de la Font Pudosa, Rec de les Estunes
Primary outflows	none
Catchment area	11.42 km2 (4.41 sq mi)
Basin countries	Spain
Max. length	2,100 m (6,900 ft)
Max. width	750 m (2,460 ft)
Surface area	1.12 km2 (0.43 sq mi)
Average depth	14.8 m (49 ft)
Max. depth	62.4 m (205 ft)
Water volume	12,000,000 m3 (420,000,000 cu ft)
Shore length1	9.13 km (5.67 mi)
Surface elevation	172 m (564 ft)
Islands	none
Settlements	Banyoles
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake of Banyoles (or Estany de Banyoles) is a natural lake located in the comarca "Pla de l'Estany", Province of Girona, in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. 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 Banyoles is the largest natural lake in Catalonia. Lake Sils, located 33 kn further south, was formerly the largest lake in the area until it was drained in 1851.

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.

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