Did the creators of the tale about Ivanushka and the humpbacked horse know about this lake? Most likely not. They simply imagined a magical body of water where the brave and the kind could swim without fear, while the wicked and cowardly would surely boil.
Surprisingly, a lake like that really exists. Anyone can swim in it — both the good and the bad. You don’t need to be an evil king to get scalded or boiled; just dive a little deeper.
The lake is called Sovata and sits in Transylvania. It’s relatively small — about 100 meters wide and 200 meters long.
At first glance it doesn’t seem remarkable. But you won’t find another lake quite like it. Sovata has two layers: a cold surface layer and a hot bottom layer that can feel like boiling water. The sun heats the deeper layer.
On the surface there’s a layer of fresh water, and below it lies salty water. The salty water absorbs sunlight and heats up, while the fresh water, pressing down from above, prevents the two layers from mixing. As a result, by the end of summer the temperature of the salty water at a depth of 3 meters reaches 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit).
You can swim in the lake, but woe to anyone who dares to dive. The hot salty water is pumped out of the lake and channeled into baths where people with ailments come to soak.
