I can tell you, late autumn, resplendent with nature’s fiery colours, is a perfect season to visit Greece. After a couple of days roaming around Athens taking in all the amazing sights we decided to go on a road trip to Lake Kremasta in central Greece to experience something more unusual for a typical holiday in Greece. First on the list was to book a trusted Avis car. With the usual ease, we booked online, arranging to exact place and time that suited us. And like I usually do I picked a model that wasn’t only comfy, I like a smooth ride especially for roads that I’m not familiar with, but also fuel efficient (not only good for the environment but the pocket too).
It took us just over 3 hours to reach Karpenisi, our reccommended HQ for this trip, from Athens. This is the largest town of a region called Evritania and is very popular with Athenians thanks to its picturesque architecture and the awesome mountainous landscapes that surrounds. As we found out, the food’s not bad either.
Historical and Cultural Museum of Evritania
We payed a visit to the Historical and Cultural Museum of Evritania. It was pretty futuristic, with interactive digital exhibits that took us on amazing journeys through the history and geography of the region. One part of it is all about Lake Kremasta, and donning our VR goggles dived down to the lake bed and visited the long vanished church of Episkopi.
We found out that the construction of Kremasta Hydro-electric dam in the 1960s was a turning point in the electrification of Greece. The waters of the Acheloos, the Agrafiotis, the Tauropos and the Trikeriotis rivers have been supplying the power plants of Kreamata for decades now and rather surprisingly the dam itself was constructed using earth and gravel rather than concrete. It is one of the largest dams in Europe, with a total volume of 8.13 million cubic metres. The water resevoir created by the dam has made the largest artificial lake in the in Greece.
Quite pertinently in a time of shifting energy needs and values it’s an important source of electricity and water for a significant part of part of Greece. The project meant that over 15 villages, many thriving, were submerged under the waters of the lake. The inhabitants were compensated and left, moving to either to nearby settlements or major cities such as Athens and Thessaloniki and some moved abroad. Along with the villages, a Byzantine monument, the Panagia of Episkopi, which we visited in 3D, built in the 8th or 9th century and an old stone arching bridge were lost under the new lake. Months before the area was dammed and flooded, the original frescoes were taken to Athens where they are now on display at the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
Starting out from Karpenisi, we headed off to the lake, through a landscape of unique beauty and a fun, challenging drive on windy mountain roads. We reached an ear-popping 1,200 meters above sea level on mount Tymfristos, and then begins a long downhill stretch. With our sturdy SUV, we were able to enjoy the wild mountains scenery, steep gorges and deep ravines with gushing rivers. We crossed an old iron bridge over the river Megdova and we had to stop to take some snaps of this cool old bridge, also taking the oportunity to have a little rest.
When we arrived at Neochori, it was pretty cloudy, even so the lake was stunning, reminding us of a Norwegian fjord. Dotted with green islands and mountains that rise up behind the calm water to the side of the lake. We took another (longish) stop for more photos of these awesome views.
The next highlight of our trip was actually crossing the Episkopi Bridge (which is named after one of the submerged villages) which crosses from Evritania to Etoakarnania. We drove over the bridge as slowly as we coukld to see the shades of the blue and green that alternate on the water’s surface and the jaggedy moutains reflecting on the lake.
There are no villages near Lake Kremasta and the fact that the dam is made of earthy materials and not concrete means that it makes a better ecosystem and habitat for a multitude of species fish, birds and animals such as hawks, otters, foxes, wild boar and eels and carp. The bridge itself is really impressive, shooting over the lake. It was designed by the civil engineer Aristarchos Economou and won international awards back in the day.
The most striking feature of this part of the trip was the nature and water. After crossing the main bridge we continued south where we came across another little bridge that passed over the river Krikeliotis. We had been told that this part of Evritania had lots of traditional villages, so we decided to stop of at one, Fidakia to be precise. Fidakia village is nestled on the forested slope of Heliodona.
We had to leave the SUV that we rented from Avis in the parking lot, as the village is car free. So we parked up and started to wander. Everything there, houses and streets are built of stone. The houses ( mainly two-storey) have lovely little yards full of flowers and the alleys are all spotlessly clean. We found out that Fidakia was a village that suffered from mass emigration – people left mainly to the USA in the 1950s and 1960s. But the people who came from there spoured their money back into their old community and thus this beautiful mountain village is so well maintained. Fidakia is the starting point of a wonderful little hiking trail to Tsagaralona. From where, the view to the lake and the bridge of Kremasta was probably the highlight of the whole excursion.
We headed back to Karpenisi to bed down for the night and the next day back to Athens to catch our flight. It was really handy that we had arranged to give back our Avis rental at the airport. We’ll definitely be back and definitely go on another road trip renting a car from Avis.
Read also:
Road trip to Meteora and the Mountains of Trikala: A Route for all Seasons
Road trip to gorgeous mountainous area of the Peloponnese
Road trip to the Fokida region’s south: Mythical Delphi, superb beaches, classy Galaxidi
