Bear Lake

Sovata is a resort of European fame, one of the most popular spas in Romania. Its existence was grounded by heliothermic salt-water lakes. The best-known is the Bear Lake/Lacul Ursu/Medve-tó, lying in a valley, formed by an underground stream being blocked above which the meadow collapsed in the second half of the 1870s. At present this lake is the world’s largest heliothermic lake. Its area is 3.8 hectares, its perimeter is 2 km, its maximum depth is 18.9 m. Its water is concentrated salt solution, its salinity is increasing downwards until it reaches the concentration of 220-300 g/l. As compared to this, the average salinity of sea water is 34 g/l.  While the surface of freshwater lakes is heated by the radiation of the Sun and this heat is gradually absorbed in the deeper layers, in the case of heliothermic lakes salty water functions as an accumulator, that is, it retains heat.

The temperature of the Bear Lake has gradually decreased in the past decades, in 1902 61°C, in 1910 51°C, in 1965 33°C were measured. One reason for the decrease is the great number of bathers, the other is that less freshwater pours into the lake than formerly. Before opening the beach, in 1.5 m depth there still used to be 38-40°C. The possibilities lying in the lake were first discovered by landowner Lajos Sófalvi Illyés, who officially founded Upper Sovata in 1900. This is why initially the Bear Lake used to be called Illyés Lake. The 1902 spa guide already mentioned “Illyés’s Bear Lake”, and it was called Bear Lake only later, after 1910, due to its shape resembling a laid-out bearskin.  

Medical recommendations regarding the medicinal waters of Sovata: for healing rheumatism, gynecologiccal diseases, endocrine disorders, peripheral nervous system disorders, abdominal inflammation, inflammation of the intestines. Important components of treatment are heliotherapy, tub bath and electrotherapy.

In the territory of Sovata, together with the Bear Lake, there are six heliothermic salt-water lakes and two freshwater lakes. The salt-water lakes are the Medve/Ursu, the Fekete/Negru, the Mogyorósi/Aluniş, the Rigó/Mierlei, the Vörös/Roşu and the Zöld/Verde Lakes; the two freshwater lakes are the Piroska/Paraschiva and the Édes/Dulce Lakes. Their temperature is very different depending on their depth.