Lacul Bâtca Doamnei

Lacul Bâtca Doamnei lies on the Bistrița river on the western edge of Piatra Neamț, at an altitude of about 325 m. It was formed in 1962 by damming the Bistrița and embanking, on the left side, an area of the river's floodplain. It is up to about 3.2 km long, about 1 km wide at its widest and around 15 m deep at its deepest point. The lake is one of the cascade of smaller reservoirs built on the Bistrița downstream of Lacul Izvorul Muntelui, together with Pângărați, Vaduri and Reconstrucția. It is fed with water from Lacul Izvorul Muntelui through the headrace canal of the Stejaru hydropower plant, with additional inflow from the Doamna stream, a right-bank tributary, and from the old course of the Bistrița, which now carries little water. The lake also protects the town against floods. The lake is a wintering and stopover site for migratory waterbirds. In recent years black-necked grebes, red-necked grebes, goosanders, red-breasted mergansers and smew have wintered here, and great cormorants stop on the lake in November. The lake is also used for recreational fishing. South of the lake, on the right bank of the Bistrița, rises Bâtca Doamnei hill (462 m), home to the archaeological site with the Dacian fortress of Bâtca Doamnei, a listed historic monument.