Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton stretches across western Hungary beneath the hills of Transdanubia. Its broad, shallow waters are fed by the Zala and drain eastward through the Sió. The Tihany peninsula projects into the lake from the northern shore, narrowing the water between its two halves. King Andrew I founded a Benedictine abbey on the peninsula in 1055 and was buried there. During the Ottoman wars the abbey was fortified, becoming a stronghold above the lake and the roads along its shore.