Jumps from the dam at Klinje Lake will happen again this year

As part of Summer in Gacko, attractive jumps from the stone dam on Klinje Lake will be organized again this year. For the fourth time in a row, this exciting competition will attract many competitors competing in two categories of diving; on the head and the feet.

Of course, you can follow the entire competition from the shore, but also by swimming in the lake or enjoying cold drinks.

The very story of how Klinje Lake was created is very interesting as well. It is an artificial lake built in Austria-Hungary, and it got its name from the toponym Klina, which is located in Gatačko polje. The Mušnica sinkhole river fills the lake.

It was created after the completion of the construction of the stone arch dam, which lasted between 1892 and 1896, and its architect was the French engineer Krouc.

Lake Klinje, Gacko, Photo: Boki, CC BY-SA 4.0

The dam was built to irrigate the Gatačko polje and is the first arched dam in the area of the former Yugoslavia.

It is located at an altitude of 1030 meters above sea level, 8 kilometers from Gacko. It is 26 meters high and 104 meters long. Volcanic ash from Vesuvius lava was used to bind the stone blocks that make up the dam walls.

Lake Klinje, Gacko, Photo: Boki, CC BY-SA 4.0

It is interesting that in 2008, 112 years after the dam was built, Gacko received a notification from Austria that the warranty for the dam had expired and that they were no longer responsible for it, even though the dam still looks like it was recently built. 🙂