Lake Morat

Lake Morat or more rarely Lake Murten (French: Lac de Morat [lak də mɔʁa]) is a lake located in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud in the west of Switzerland. It is named after the small bilingual town of Murten/Morat on its southern shore.

Lake Morat
Lake Murten Lac de Morat (French) Murtensee (German)
Lake Morat Show map of Canton of Fribourg Lake Morat Show map of Switzerland Lake Morat Show map of Alps
Location	Cantons of Fribourg and Vaud
Coordinates	46°56′N 7°5′E
Primary inflows	Broye
Primary outflows	Broye canal
Catchment area	693 km2 (268 sq mi)
Basin countries	Switzerland
Max. length	8.2 km (5.1 mi)
Max. width	2.8 km (1.7 mi)
Surface area	22.8 km2 (8.8 sq mi)
Max. depth	45 m (148 ft)
Water volume	0.55 km3 (450,000 acre⋅ft)
Residence time	1.6 years
Surface elevation	429 m (1,407 ft)
Islands	La Grande Ile (islet)
Settlements	Morat / Murten

It is the smallest of the three lakes in the Seeland or Pays des trois lacs area of the Swiss plateau located at the foot of the first chain of the Jura mountains. The main tributary is the river Broye.

Since the Jura water correction its water leaves the lake through the Broye Canal (Canal de la Broye) into nearby Lake Neuchâtel that is connected to Lake Bienne/Lake Biel through the Thielle canal. Thus all three lakes form a natural reservoir in order to retain overflow water from the river Aare that flows into Lake Bienne/Biel: in times of combined heavy rainfalls and glacier melting in the Alps, the peculiar situation arises that the water flows backwards through the Thielle and Broye canals, preventing an overflow of the Grand Marais.

Lake Morat/Murten