8 lakes of Northern Greece worth to visit
Northern Greece has offers you many reasons to escape with its natural beauty. A category in itself are its beautiful lakes, natural or artificial, of great beauty without exception. From important wetlands of international importance to small oases for short excursions, in cities or high in the mountains, these are the most beautiful lakes that you will put in your destinations in Northern Greece.
Lake Pamvotida, also known as Lake Ioannina, is a reference point of the city. A lake known both for its beauty and for the legends with which it is associated, such as that of Kyra-Frosini drowned in its waters by Ali Pasha, as well as the monastery of Durahan, which according to tradition was built by an Ottoman soldier.
The lake is surrounded by the Mitsikeli Mountains and the eastern ridges of Tomarou (or Olitsika) and is formed by the waters of three main springs (Drambadova, Sentenikou and Krya), which gush at the foot of Mitsikeli. The waters of Pamvotida come from natural springs and torrents. It is a very important ecosystem, as it includes a huge variety of species from fish and birds, as well as many amphibians. It is a great source of life for the city and its fishing exploitation has contributed greatly to the economic development of the wider area. In addition, it is a center for holding international sports events, such as skiing, rowing, kayaking and canoeing, while when the surface of the lake freezes, many daredevils walk on it.
The lake hosts in its center the famous Island of Kyra-Frosini, one of the few inhabited by lakes in all of Europe, which you can visit with boats starting from Molos to Ioannina. It is a very picturesque settlement consisting of about a hundred families, full of traditional houses with beautiful gardens, narrow cobbled alleys and various shops with exhibits of Giannioti traditional folk art. Particularly noteworthy are the seven monasteries that exist there, such as the Ali Pasha Museum, the place where he was killed, and where you can see his being, the holes in the floor from the bullets that killed him, local costumes and documents of the time as well as personal items of Ali Pasha and Kyra-Frosini. As an additional suggestion, try the unusual local delicacies, such as frog legs and eels and you will admire the famous silver jewelry and the carved objects of the craftsmen of Giannio.
8 lakes of Northern Greece worth to visit
The deepest lake in Greece, as well as one of the most beautiful, Vegoritida is an important habitat offered for beautiful walks with a background of Kaimaktsalan and wonderful sunsets.
The lake has a supra-local character, as administratively it belongs to the prefectures of Pella and Florina and to the Municipalities of Amyntaio, Filota and Vegoritida. It is surrounded by the mountains of Verno, Vora and Vermio and is the lowest point of the complex of lakes Zazaris, Himaditissa and Petra, whose waters it receives through a system of canals and tunnels. Together with the other lakes in the area, it was an important productive nucleus, around which settlements developed from early antiquity.
8 lakes of Northern Greece worth to visit
Its steep shores are an ideal refuge for many wild birds, such as whiteflies, geraniums, as well as the globally endangered kestrel and has been designated an Area of Community Interest in the European Ecological Network Natura 2000. The lake is an ideal fishing spot for them. species that can combine the activity with a trip to the wonderful natural environment.
These are three lakes that communicate with each other and with Vegoritida through ditches, constituting equally important habitats to visit. The lakes are located in the south of the prefecture of Florina, belonging to the hydrological basin of Eordea that is formed between the mountains Verno, Vora, Askio and Vermio. Heimaritida is fed by the nearby lake Zazari and this in turn feeds the Petra lake with a canal.
Himaditida owes its name to the fact that it was a place of wintering, as thanks to the mild climate that forms around the lake, the breeders of the surrounding mountainous areas overwintered in it. The lake is today a very important ecosystem and is the most important breeding ground for the marsh duck which is considered an endangered species. This and its neighbor Zazari belong to the Natura 2000 network, while Lake Petron is also an important ecosystem, as it breeds many species of birds, including some rare ones such as the lagona.
8 lakes of Northern Greece worth to visit
Lake Orestiada or more properly Lake Kastoria, is a jewel of the city, whether you achieve it icy in winter or in spring, which invites everyone to walk on its shores, admiring its beauty. The lake is located in northwestern Greece in the middle of which Kastoria is an “island island”. The lake has many water inflows from the west and an outflow into the river Aliakmonas.
In ancient times the lake completely surrounded the rocky mountain that thus formed an islet. The length of its shores is about 30 kilometers and the volume of water is 100,000,000 cubic meters. Characteristic of the lake is that it freezes for about fifteen days a year, while in the past, the ice was so thick that carts were loaded on top. The lake has a rich bird fauna as in the area there are more than 200 species of birds, which are offered for observation. It is also particularly rich in fish fauna and is considered the second richest lake in Greece.
In Florina we admire double beauty, where the small and the big Prespa, one of the most wonderful wetlands in Europe, are waiting for us. Prespes is famous for its natural beauty tri-national mountainous lake region on the northwestern border of Greece with Albania and FYROM.
Mikri Prespa is located at an altitude of 857 meters and Megali Prespa at about 852 meters, with their dominant points being the existence of two lakes: Megali Prespa which is divided between Greece, FYROM and Albania and Mikri Prespa or which belongs mainly to Greece (approximately 43.5 sq.km.) while its smallest part (less than 4 sq.km.), to the west, belongs to Albania. Due to the descent of the water level in Mikri Prespa, the part that belongs to Albania, has almost disappeared.
In Prespes there are more than 40 species of mammals and about 260 species of birds, while its rich flora includes more than 1300 species of plants and a cluster of centuries-old mountain cypresses. Regarding the bird fauna, the presence of the two species of pelican, rose pelican and silver pelican is considered more important, especially the second one, which is a rare species in the world. The area is a paradise for lovers of wild beauty.
8 lakes of Northern Greece worth to visit
Do not forget to visit the island of Agios Achilleios of Little Prespa where you will see archeological as well as Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments with the most important being the royal church of the 10th century.
Lake Plastira is a constant value for nature-loving getaways regardless of the season, as it is offered for a combination of activities and special natural beauty. It is an artificial lake and its official name is Lake Tavropou, while it is located on the plateau of Nevropolis in the Prefecture of Karditsa.
It was formed in 1959 with the completion of the dam at its southern end on the beginning of the river Tavropos or Megdova, while the idea for its construction was attributed to the military and civilian Nikolaos Plastiras, when in 1935 he visited his birthplace, and catastrophic floods occurred in the region and Macedonia from continuous rainfall, seeing the area is said to have said that “here one day it will become a lake”, hence its best known name.
The area also has many religious monuments of great cultural and architectural interest, unique monasteries and other sacred monuments. In the area of the lake visit the Monastery of Panagia Pelekitis in Karitsa where it was literally necessary to carve the rock to build, the Monastery of Korona where the chariot of the martyr Seraphim is kept, the renovated Monastery of Petra, the Church of Agia Triada in Fylakti and in Mavrovouni. And of course, you do not fail to make the round of the lake, with a sure stop at the Dam which was the biggest project of that time for the Prefecture of Karditsa but also for all of Greece.
One of the most beautiful destinations, just a stone’s throw from our city, Lake Kerkini awaits you with infinite beauties to explore. The lake is located in the northwestern part of the prefecture of Serres, just 40 km from the city of Serres and about 100 km from Thessaloniki. It was created with human intervention, when in 1932 the first dam was built on the waters of the river Strymon and gradually Lake Kerkini was formed.
The lake is supplied with water mainly from Strymon and less from Kerkinitis and Krousia. The riparian vegetation with riparian forests of wild willows, the water lilies that float in an area of thousands of acres, the wide variety of fish, the buffaloes that swim in the calm waters of the lake, but also the wonderful horizon from the mountain ranges of Mount Belles, give the place a unique charm.
The only wetland has been declared a National Park, which in fact belongs to the Network of Protected Areas of the European Union “Natura 2000”, while according to the Ramsar International Convention, the lake is one of the 10 wetlands of International Importance in Greece.
Visit it among all these and for the ideal bird watching conditions, as today it is one of the best places in Europe for natural observation of about 300 species, rare and protected that live and breed there. It is no coincidence that scientists and amateurs from all over the world visit us every year for their studies.
Lake Skra or Blue Lake is a small but beautiful lake just outside Kilkis and the name was not given to it by chance, as it owes its turquoise waters to fossilized organisms at its bottom.
You find it in a forest reminiscent of a jungle, full of plane trees, hazelnuts, alder, ivy and other climbers. The lake is formed by streams of Mount Paikos, which run together and end at the waterfalls of Skra (they took their name from the village of Skra, located in the north), with the characteristic stalactites and stalagmites and the crystal clear waters, then falling to the point this creating the lake, the depth of which reaches 4 meters.
In summer, its cool waters are suitable for diving, which is why there is a rope permanently tied from the trunk of a tree for diving and games, while the wooden benches of the Goumenissa Forest Service are suitable for relaxation and picnics. You can even wander through the dense forest until you reach the complex of waterfalls in the area that fall from a height of 4-5 meters, with a small cave with thin stalactites just behind them.
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