Lake Velence Lake Velence Lake Velence is the third largest lake in Hungary. It is a popular holiday destination among Hungarians. The lake has an area of 26 km, one third of which is covered by the common reed. Because of the sunny climate of the area and the shallowness of the lake, it is one of the warmest lakes in Europe: its temperature in the summer may reach 26 to 28 °C. Lake Velence is located in Fejér county, close to the M7 motorway between Budapest and Székesfehérvár, at the foot of the Velence Mountains. The lake is a bird reserve.
Lake Balaton the late 19th century when landowners, ruined by "Phylloxera" attacking their grape vines, began building summer homes to rent out to the burgeoning middle classes. In Hungarian, the lake is known simply as "Balaton". It was called "lacus Pelsodis" or "Pelso" by the Romans. The name is Indo-European in origin (cf. Czech "pleso" ‘sinkhole, deep end of a lake’), later replaced by the Slavic *"bolto" (Czech "bláto", Slovak "blato", Polish "błoto") meaning 'mud, swamp' (from earlier Proto-Slavic "boltьno", , ). Slavic prince Pribina began to build in January 846 a fortress as his seat of power and several churches in