Tarnobrzeg Lake

The Machow mine outside Tarnobrzeg was one of the largest sulphur open-casts in the world, worked from the 1960s until 1992, and it left a pit about a hundred metres deep in a landscape that had been farmland - along with acid water, spoil and a reclamation problem that took over a decade to solve. The pit was neutralised with lime, reshaped, and then filled with water from the Vistula between 2005 and 2009, producing a lake of about 455 hectares and up to forty-two metres deep, which makes it one of the larger artificial lakes in Poland and by some measures the largest reclaimed mining lake in Europe. Water quality is monitored and is good enough for bathing, and the shore now carries beaches, a marina, a promenade, cycling paths and watersports, used heavily by Tarnobrzeg in summer. It is a straightforward and successful piece of industrial reclamation and it is worth understanding as that rather than as a natural lake.

History

Sulphur mining began here in 1964 in an open-cast pit of the Tarnobrzeg sulphur basin, one of the largest deposits of native sulphur in the world. Work to close the mine began in 1994, the pit was completely filled with water from the Vistula by 2009 at a cost to the State Treasury of about 1.5 billion złoty, and the lake, opened in 2010, covers 455 hectares and is up to 42 metres deep (Wikipedia, Lake Tarnobrzeg; Polish Wikipedia, Jezioro Tarnobrzeskie).

What you'll find

• A former sulphur pit - about a hundred metres deep, worked until 1992.
• Filled from the Vistula - flooded between 2005 and 2009 after neutralisation.
• 455 hectares - among the largest reclaimed mining lakes in Europe.
• A town beach - marina, promenade, cycling paths and watersports on the shore.

When to go

June to September for swimming. Half a day.

Good to know

It is an artificial lake in a reclaimed industrial site, not a natural one. The surroundings are flat and largely bare where planting has not matured. Summer weekends are crowded. Facilities close out of season.

Nearby

Tarnobrzeg is beside it; Sandomierz is north-west across the Vistula.

Key facts