World's Largest Underground Thermal Lake Discovered Beneath Albania

Rahul Somvanshi

Lake Neuron, stretching 454 feet long and 138 feet wide, became the world's largest underground thermal lake after detailed measurements in 2024.

Photo Source: David Iglesias (Pexels)

Czech researchers spotted steam rising from limestone mountains in Albania during 2021, leading them to a 330-foot-deep cave entrance

Photo Source: Tim Mossholder (Pexels)

Early laser measurements failed at 328 feet, requiring advanced 3D scanning technology to capture the lake's full size of 294,350 cubic feet.

Photo Source: Creative Tools from Halmdstad, Sweden (CC BY 2.0)

Political restrictions between Albania and Greece kept this cave system hidden until the 1990s, when border areas finally opened for exploration.

Photo Source: Muzaffar Bukhari (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The thermal lake holds enough warm water to fill 3.5 Olympic swimming pools, surpassing the previous record holder found in Budapest in 2008.

Photo Source: Zurab Shamatava (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Scientists plan to study animals and plants around Lake Neuron while creating detailed 3D maps of the entire cave system.

Photo Source: Biospeleologist (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Neuron Foundation funded specialized scanning equipment that will support future cave explorations by their expedition teams.

Photo Source: Deniz Özgür (Pexels)