Blue Lake is located at the end of the town, in a 300 to 500 meter deep crater. Its maximum length is 800 meters and the width 500 meters, but those dimensions change considerably, depending on the water level – the lake sometimes goes completely dry in summer. The water level oscillates, often reaching 100 meters. The highest, measured in 1914, reached 147 meters. The oscillations are due to estavels at the bottom of the lake, which act as springs during the rainy season and as drains during the dry season. The water is of a nice blue colour, which gave it its name. The access road leads almost to the bottom. In summer, the lake is the local population’s favourite swimming pool and children play football at the bottom when it dries out, which is a special attraction. Unfortunately, the process of backfilling is well under way, especially obvious from the north side. The lake dries up more and more often, and it is with great attention and certain apprehension that the locals wait for the water to come back after the dry season. Many articles have been written about the lake and many songs have been sung, but to this day the words that would do justice to its beauty have not been found. For those who were growing up by the lake’s shores, Imotski and Blue Lake are parts of the same existential paradigm. Spending summers by its waters, people have learned how to take responsibility: they protect the nature there or keep a wakeful eye on all children who cannot swim, even though they are not necessarily their own. Every lake-related experience is a good investment in the future. Children cannot learn anything wrong by its shores and when they grow up the lake brings them back to their childhood, refreshes them and renews them. Every summer we rediscover that same timeless beauty we left there the previous summer. The colour of the water varies from bluegreen to turquoise, depending on the water level and weather conditions. Chance travellers speak so nicely of the lake and those living in Imotski find it so natural that such a beauty befalls them by their very birthright. If you go for a swim over the shiny surface on a summer afternoon, look up towards the blue sky and all around you will see cliffs, rockslides, boulders, and protrusions convenient to jump from that only a divine force stops from swooping down. A ring of black pines on the horizon separates this water oasis in the middle of a boiling rocky ground from the outside world. The lake is so impressive that it is hard to articulate all the feelings that overwhelm you when you take your place on a rock and relax, your eyes erring with joy over the blue rippled water.
