Szmaragdowe [Emarald] Lake

Szmaragdowe [Emerald] Lake is an artificial lake, which appeared as a result of a disaster which took place in 1925, in the chalk mine. The mine workers accidentally dug into ground water, which flooded the mine entirely. The name of the lake stems from the fact that it has an extraordinary colour. This is because the water contains a lot of calcium carbonate. The chalk mine belonged to Albert Eduard Toepffler. He excavated chalk for commercial purposes - he needed it in his Portland cement factory called "Stern". It was a huge plant which supplied part of Europe with cement. It is said, that when the weather is good, workers’ tools, or the carriages from the mine can still be seen on the bottom of the lake. There are also legends about a greedy Skarbek [Treasurer]. The legends say, that nearby the lake there is a hidden treasure protected by the spirit of the forest. The lake has a unique natural value. Its total depth is 18 m and the water surface is 42 m above the ground level. The total area of the lake is 28540 m². Touristic infrastructure around the lake includes: Family Trail or Fitness Tail and Polana Słoneczna [Sunny Glade] which is located nearby. Here, tourist can take a rest, relax and admire the panorama of Szczecin. It is also possible to light a bonfire there. Among other interesting sites are: ruins of Barsela tower, Wzgórze Widokowe [Observation Hill], the old railway bridge, two monuments which commemorate the production of 2 million tons of cement, and the interesting tourist site which is called “Grota Toepffera” [Toepffer’s Grotto], which was made of artificial stalactites, stalagmites and sinter columns (which are unique in Poland). The lake is often explored by divers, because they find its bottom quite interesting. Near the lake, there are two monuments of nature, the air-raid shelter, the Tourist Office and many other attractions.