Motif: The Red Lake, photo by Luka Kolovrat, 2007 The Red Lake, situated at the distance of 1.5 kilometres from Imotski, is a protected monument of nature and a veritable phenomenon of the karst. It is one of the deepest karst cavities which got its name due to the red-coloured rocks on the cliffs. The Red Lake was formed as a result of a tectonic caving-in and is an earlier geological formation. This lake is elliptical in shape with the longer major axis 213 metres long and the minor axis 190 metres. The diameter of the lake on the surface is approximately 180 by 150 metres, and what is really fascinating is its depth. The Red Lake is, actually, 250 to almost 300 metres deep which depends on the season of the year and the water level. The actual bottom of the lake is below the sea level. The total height of the cliffs on the northern side comes up to 528 metres and it represents the deepest abyss in Europe. The first precise measuring of the Red Lake was performed by the Croatian academician Josip Roglić in 1937. The last measurements come from the year 1998 when the depth of 281 metre was determined which is not the final depth value. The lake’s rocks are vertical and red-coloured owing to the bauxite ore. The rocks are rather breakable with several caves measuring up to 700 metres in length with siphons and spacious halls. The lake is a large water reservoir with drinking and clear water. From the northern side the underground river runs into the lake through an opening some twenty metres in diameter. During the Second World War two American bombers were hit and tumbled down into the Red Lake, so that this phenomenon of nature has also become the tomb of at least fifteen soldiers of the Allied forces. On account of its beauty, mystic features and inaccessibility, the Red Lake is the subject of many stories and legends, the best known among them the one about Gavan and his homestead. According to this legend from the ancient past, in the place where the lake is situated now there stood the sumptuous homestead of Gavan and his wife. They were both avaricious and haughty. When an angel dressed up as a beggar accompanied by two children reminded Gavan’s wife of God’s mercy and justice, she coarsely and derisively said to him: ”What do I need your God while I have my Gavan”. At that moment the earth quaked as the result of God’s punishment, the homestead with the surroundings and all the people living there collapsed deep into the precipice where then the lake was created, and even nowadays, during the hours of the night you can hear Gavan’s painful yowl of pain from the depth of the Red Lake. The Croatian writer Josip Eugen Tomić wrote about the lake during his visit there in 1884. This is what he wrote: “...Here, in the dark, deaf night If you are brave enough to pass by, Together with the fairies’ shrieks You’ll hear the horrible roar of the werewolf While witches above the water gleam with their flaming teeth...” Luka Kolovrat