Lake Tsivlou & River Krathes – Τσιβλού & Κράθις

A photo series in four parts – Part 2/4

A reminder of one of the most impressive and dramatic landslide phenomena in modern Greek history, Lake Tsivlou is one of the few natural lakes in Greece, situated at an altitude of 2,625 feet on the Chelmos mountain range in Achaea. It was created in 1913 due to a massive landslide that drifted along two villages, Sylivena and Tsivlos, and blocked the bed of the River Krathes. You can read about the timeline of events that gave birth to Lake Tsivlou in Part 1 of this series.

Lake Tsivlou Today

With years gone by, the surrounding forests have grown over the landslide soil. And despite the vast volume of silt, Tsivlou remains a deep lake with steep banks. Its waters are fed by at least two underground sources and three forest streams.

It covers an area of 8.3 acres and has a shoreline of 1.1 miles that ranges (up to almost 400 inches per season) depending on yearly rainfall. Also, being under 100 years old to date, Lake Tsivlou is the youngest natural lake in Europe. Adaptive evolution has not yet taken place, so most of its banks are barren—half of the times flooded, preventing mainland plants from expanding and, at other times, dry, preventing aquatic plants from taking root. Consequently, it hasn’t developed any rich aquatic vegetation except for reeds in shallow spots and a yet-to-be-classified weed at the bottom.

Freshwater mullets from Krathes were trapped in the lake, and they are now the only native fish of Tsivlou. In recent years, locals have taken the initiative (although without any official research being conducted) to introduce carp, mosquitofish, trout, and crayfish to the waters. Lash pine and fir forests dominate the current landscape, making it a strikingly beautiful hiking destination, while the lake and its shores are popular recreational areas.

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