Photo: G Da · CC BY-SA 3.0
A reservoir in the upper valley of the Ladon in the north-west of Arcadia, behind a dam built in the 1950s, in sparsely populated mountains.
How it formed
The dam, 50 m high, stands at the place called Pedima, about 10 km from Tropaia. It was built in the 1950s by an Italian company as part of Italy’s war reparations to Greece. The Ladon and the Aroanios feed the lake, whose level can fall about 20 m in early winter, from around 420 m when full.
History
At the eastern corner of the lake, the five-arched stone Kiras Bridge, said to have been built in the 13th century by the lady of Akova, is visible only when the water is low.
Nature
The water often looks green from the surrounding vegetation, and its irregular shore resembles a small fjord. Fog, the seasons and the changing water level alter its look noticeably.
Visit
Swimming
No reliable information
Tips
The lake can be reached from Tropaia or Dafni. To reach the dam, drive past Tropaia and follow the signs, on a road with many sharp turns and a small pull-out at the end. From the dam, a clockwise drive runs mostly along the north shore to Mouria, where a side road leads to the Kiras Bridge. When the lake is full, the route is a dirt road past small settlements and an old watermill.
People come for fishing, rowing, windsurfing and boating, and a sports club at Dafni, about 5 km away, offers kayaking and rafting on the lake and river. Hiking and mountain biking are good around the river. Taverns are in Mouria and Tropaia, and there are few other facilities on the shore.
Nearby lakes
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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: Τεχνητή Λίμνη Λάδωνα (way 31537881), OpenStreetMap contributors
- English Wikipedia: Ladon Lake, Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata: Ladon lake (Q6469801), Wikimedia Foundation
- Lake Ladonas, Visit Achaia
- The Ladon artificial lake, Greek City Times