Lake Tsivlou & River Krathes – Τσιβλού & Κράθις

A photo series of Lake Tsivlou and River Krathes in four parts – Part 1/4

Η λίμνη Τσιβλού βρίσκεται στον Χελμό, σε ύψος 800 μέτρων και δημιουργήθηκε το 1913 από κατολίσθηση που συμπαρέσυρε τα χωριά της Συλίβαινας και του Τσιβλού και έφραξε κοίτη του ποταμού Κράθι.

Lake Tsivlou is an alpine lake lying at an altitude of 2625 feet among the slopes of Aroania Mountain, also known as Chelmos, in Achaea. A mountainous, provincial road from the city of Akrata leads to the village of Zarouchla, leaving the vast Corinthian Gulf behind. It passes through the villages of Voutsimo & Kalamià and the settlement of Pyrgos and reaches the village of Valimì at 3182 feet. Then it starts to descend again: at 2625 feet, 15.5 miles from Akrata and 6.8 miles before Zarouchla, it meets Lake Tsivlou, one of the few natural mountain lakes of Greece, located in the depth of a cavity and surrounded by dense forests.

The lake was created in 1913 due to a massive landslide that drifted along two villages, Sylivena & Τsivlos (which gave its name to the lake), and blocked the bed of the river Krathes. In 1913, the region was just an open valley, in the middle of which Krathes flowed. There was a ravine and a small tributary of the main river on the west. At the confluence of the two lay the picturesque village of Tsivlos. On the east side of the valley, on a much higher level, sat the village of Sylivena.

The Timeline of Events

The residents of Sylivena were aware that their village was settled on a precarious spot. There had never been an official research or a state warning, but small landslides had often occurred in the area, and the locals kept reporting “infernal” roaring sounds. The winter of 1912-13 was heavy with snow and rain, both of which favored a larger-scale incident.

The voluminous soil blocked both Krathes and its tributary. It formed a “barrier,” creating two lakes: on one side, the waters of Krathes created the homonymous lake, and on the other, the waters of its former tributary formed Lake Tsivlou. The latter steadily rose and swept through whichever houses of Tsivlos had survived the landslide. The waters of Lake Krathes also continued to rise, reaching the village of Agridi, 1.2 miles uphill. Sylivena was completely eradicated.

In the summer of 1913, the entire coastal area of Akrata suffered a severe water shortage since the water of Krathes, used for irrigation, had remained blocked in the mountains. Autumn came with heavy rainfall, and Lake Krathes began accumulating vast volumes of water. Residents in the lower areas began to realize they had a “ticking bomb” over their heads. Truthfully, the freshly deposited landslide soil was too loose to withstand the enormous water pressure. Fears materialized.

On the night of January 5th, 1914, the soil gave up, and Lake Krathes emptied within minutes. The vast flow of water swept everything in its path, including the arched historic bridge of Krathes, near Akrata. Lake Tsivlou, however, remained intact.

*images by Athina D. Pantazatou for Kicking Back the Pebbles