[8] In the Paleozoic Era, 300 to 400 million years ago, the entire territory of the modern Gulf of Finland was covered by a sea.

Its modern relief was formed as a result of glacier activities, the last of which, the Weichselian glaciation, ended about 12,000 years ago.

On the northern and northwestern shores of the lake there are sand dunes covered with pine forest and sandy beaches.

[10] The relief of the bottom is uniform and flat, gradually rising near the shores and covered with silt, and in some places with sand.

[10] The lake water is fresh, with a low transparency of about 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) due to plankton and suspended sediments caused by the river flow.

However, due to recent climatic changes, Lake Peipus has now commonly started to freeze later into December and thaw much earlier in April.

[13] The largest are Velikaya and Emajõgi; smaller rivers include Zadubka, Cherma, Gdovka, Kuna, Torokhovka, Remda, Rovya, Zhelcha, Chernaya, Lipenka, Startseva, Borovka, Abija, Obdeh, Piusa, Võhandu, Kodza, Kargaya, Omedu, Tagajõgi and Alajõgi.

[16][19][20] The picturesque shores of the lake are a popular destination for tourism and recreation at several tourist camps and sanatoriums.

[21][22][23] In 1242, the southern part of Lake Peipus hosted a major historical battle where Teutonic Knights were defeated by Novgorod troops led by Alexander Nevsky.

[26][27] The city had a certain measure of independence even though it was dominated by its neighbours - Novgorod, Lithuania and Muscovy - and eventually incorporated in the Russian state.

[30] Kallaste was founded in the 18th century by the Old Believers who had fled from the Novgorod area,[31][32] and there is still a functional Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church in the town.