Lake Võrts

Võrtsjärv is a broad, shallow lake in southern Estonia. The Emajõgi flows from its northeastern end towards Lake Peipus, linking the two great bodies of water across the inland country. The lake's basin was shaped by the movement of ice long before the present shoreline formed. Its name appears around 1229 in Henry's Chronicle of Livonia as Worcegerwe, placing it among the landmarks known to writers of the age of the northern crusades. The open water and low shores remain a prominent feature of this part of Livonia.