Photo: Georgikopoulos Manolis · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake Doxa is an artificial lake in western Corinthia, in the Feneos municipal unit near the village of Archaia Feneos, completed in the late 1990s. It is fed and drained by the small river Doxa, which empties into the plain of Feneos. In the middle of the lake, on a small peninsula, stands the little church of Agios Fanourios. The Saint George Monastery of Feneos had to be moved to higher ground when the lake was made.
How it formed
The lake was made at the end of the 20th century by damming the Doxa to store water for irrigating the plateau and to protect it from floods. It covers just over half a square kilometre at about 900 m and is up to 40 m deep. Geologists expect the neck of the peninsula to sink one day, leaving the chapel on an islet.
Nature
Conifer-covered mountains surround it, and in autumn the forest turns yellow, red and orange. In spring the banks and forest floor are covered in wildflowers, including cyclamen and crocuses.
Gallery
Photo: Georgios Pazios (Alaniaris) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Konstantinos80 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Visit
Swimming
No reliable information
Tips
The lake is about two hours from Athens: leave the Athens–Patras highway at Kiato or at Derveni and Xylokastro and climb into the mountains. The last stretch of one approach is dirt. Ancient Feneos, with a guesthouse, is 1.5 km away, and the village of Goura, with several places to stay and eat, some 5–10 km away. Do not confuse it with Lake Feneos, which recedes almost entirely every summer.
The loop around the lake is under 5 km, for walking and cycling, and picnics and horse riding are also on offer. A dirt track leads to the chapel of Agios Fanourios, where the clergy bless the waters on the saint’s feast, 27 August. People also swim and scuba dive in the cold water, and a hike of 6.5 km climbs Mount Dourdouvana for the view. The lake is lovely in every season, especially with snow on the peaks, but weekends and feast days get crowded.
Nearby lakes
Show on mapPhoto: Georgikopoulos Manolis · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: ulrichstill · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: G Da · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Sources & data
- Greece's 2022 Water Framework Directive reporting to the EEA: lake (LW) and transitional (TW) water bodies, field cArea, European Environment Agency (WISE WFD), reported by Greece, 2022
- OpenStreetMap: Λίμνη Δόξα (way 130164056), OpenStreetMap contributors
- English Wikipedia: Lake Doxa, Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata: Lake Doxa (Q3565135), Wikimedia Foundation
- Lake Doxa, Visit Peloponnese
- Lake Doxa: the impressive man-made lake deep in the Korinthian mountains, Travel.gr