Pfäffikersee (or Lake Pfäffikon) is a lake in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon. It is 2.5 km long and 1.3 km wide at the middle. The lake was created in the last ice age when a moraine blocked off the ability for the lake to empty north towards Winterthur. There is also a hiking trail around the lake that people often bike and walk on, and the area is considered protected lands, among them the Robenhauser Ried and the prehistoric settlement Wetzikon–Robenhausen, discovered and researched by Jakob Messikommer (1828–1917), which became a serial site of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. In Roman era, along Pfäffikersee there was a Roman road from the vicus Centum Prata (Kempraten) on OberseeLake Zürich via Vitudurum (Oberwinterthur) to Tasgetium (Eschenz) to the Rhine. To secure this important transport route, the Irgenhausen Castrum was built.

Pfäffikersee
Map of Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee is located in Canton of Zurich
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee is located in Switzerland
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee is located in Alps
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee
LocationCanton of Zürich
Coordinates47°21′08″N 08°46′48″E / 47.35222°N 8.78000°E / 47.35222; 8.78000
Primary inflowsKemptnerbach
Primary outflowsAa
Catchment area40 km2 (15 sq mi)
Basin countriesSwitzerland
Max. length2.5 km (1.6 mi)
Surface area3.3 km2 (1.3 sq mi)
Average depth18.5 m (61 ft)
Max. depth36 m (118 ft)
Water volume0.059 km3 (0.014 cu mi)
Residence time2.4 years
Surface elevation537 m (1,762 ft)
SettlementsPfäffikon, Irgenhausen, Auslikon, Wetzikon, Seegräben
Map

See also

edit
edit