The Red Lake (Crveno Jezero)

Crveno jezero (the “Red Lake”) is without a doubt one of the most impressive phenomena in the world. You can’t grasp its scale at first glance. The first moment of realisation comes when you understand that the thin green rim along the top of its cliffs is actually a pine forest. The pines look so small you don’t even notice them at first. Once you do, you grasp just how high the cliffs surrounding the lake really are. After that, you have to process the fact that the depth of the lake itself equals the height of those cliffs! The total vertical difference is 528 metres (from the top of the cliff to the bottom of the lake), meaning the bottom lies below sea level, which places Crveno jezero at the top of the list of the deepest sinkholes in the world. Sinkholes are pits formed by the collapse of cave ceilings. Only Xiaozhai Tiankeng in China is deeper.

So if you want to see a pit deep enough to take your breath away, you can happily skip Mexico, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea and head straight to Imotski.

Crveno jezero is most often mentioned together with Modro jezero (the “Blue Lake”). And while Modro jezero is the one in the public spotlight — because you can descend to it, swim in it, or even play football at its bottom when it dries up — Crveno is usually overlooked by the media. People typically stop here, throw a glance, a cigarette butt, maybe a stone, and move on. Knowing the local culture, the cigarette butt is no surprise, but why a stone? Crveno jezero is, in fact, tied to a myth that it’s impossible to throw a stone into it, and that has become such a challenge for visitors that you’ll struggle to find a single stone left around the rim — even though a sign by the lake forbids throwing them. The reasons given for why stones can’t reach the water include air currents, magnetic anomalies and the like, but the real reason is probably perspective, which makes the lake seem closer than it actually is. In any case, there are certainly spots around the lake from which a stone can reach the water, and others from which it can’t.

With a total vertical difference of 528 metres, Crveno jezero is the second deepest sinkhole of its type in the world!

Beyond these curiosities, there are others. We only learned about one of them from one of the information boards along the walking trail around the lake. During the Second World War, the Germans shot down two American military aircraft in this area. One crashed directly into the water, while the other broke apart — half fell into the lake, and the other half struck the rocks at the lake’s rim. There’s an incredible cruelty of fate in crossing the whole world only to end up at the bottom of a lake near Imotski.

Beyond the information boards, you can also find all sorts of curiosities about Crveno jezero online — from dives by numerous international teams attempting to reach the lake’s bottom, to parachute jumps into it (base jumping).

Crveno jezero is also tied to the legend of Gavanovi dvori (Gavan’s Halls), which collapsed and disappeared into the lake’s abyss when their owners, during a debauched feast, scorned and turned away an angel disguised as a beggar. The same legend is attached to many lakes and sinkholes across the wider region. These are believed to be stylised versions of the mythical concept of punishment and the downfall of greed, arrogance and depravity — a concept also depicted in the Bible through the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

To experience Crveno jezero in its full scale, it’s not enough to just pull over by the road and take a glance after visiting Modro jezero. Set aside about an hour for an easy walk along the circular trail. You can leave your car at a few available spots by the road, and in season you’ll probably have to make a slightly wider loop by car (some 1.5 km) to the spacious car park located here: 43.45501682369202, 17.195529360031987.

There are some plans to build a so-called sky walk and/or a zip line at Crveno jezero. We hope that, if these are ever realised, those responsible will carry them out in the least invasive way possible, so that this unique natural phenomenon is protected as much as possible from devastation and left to the generations after us in the form nature intended.