Lake Ritsa, Mountain lake in Gudauta Municipality, Georgia.

Lake Ritsa is a mountain lake in the Gudauta District of Abkhazia, lying in a deep wooded gorge of the Lashipse and Yupshara rivers at 950 metres above sea level. It measures 2.5 km long and 270 to 870 metres wide, with an average depth of 63 metres and a maximum of 116 metres. The water is bordered directly by steep slopes; no shore or built structure lines the edge.

Lake Ritsa formed about 250 years ago when part of Mount Pshegishkha collapsed into the Lashipse River, damming its valley. The lake is fed by six rivers and drained only by the Iupshara. In 1930 the Ritsa Nature Reserve was established, and the road from the Black Sea coast was built in 1936.

Abkhaz and Georgian legends explain the lake through Ritsa, a girl pasturing animals in the valley, and her brothers Agepsta, Atsetuka and Pshegishkha, who became the surrounding mountains. The rivers carry the robbers' names: the Iupshara drains the lake, and the Gega, which it joins, recalls the second kidnapper.

The access road winds through dense forest and can be in poor condition in places, so visitors should allow extra time for the journey. Arriving early in the day helps to experience the morning stillness and to assess road conditions in daylight.

The lake is fed by six rivers but drained by only one, the Iupshara, which flows into the Gega and then the Bzyb. Its basin formed roughly 250 years ago when part of Mount Pshegishkha collapsed into the Lashipse and dammed it. The surrounding Ritsa Nature Reserve, 162.89 km², was created in 1930.