Photo: Ale30307 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ddr40 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake Zaravina, also called Nezeros, lies in an oak forest in the Pogoni area of Ioannina, about 45 km from the city, almost beside the Ioannina–Kakavia road but hidden from it. It is a natural karst lake and, at about 31 m, among the deepest lakes in Greece despite its small size. The nearest villages, Zaravina and Sitaria, are each about 5 km away.
How it formed
The lake formed in a karst hollow in the Pleistocene, in the shape of an upturned cone, and streams feed it from the hills around. The ground here is rich in sulphur: divers who went down in 2011 stopped at 17 m because of hydrogen sulphide. Local people say the lake has no bottom, or that a jug thrown in once turned up as far away as Ioannina or Kakavia, though no one has shown where its underground outflows lead.
History
An ancient road passed by the lake on its way north to Dyrrachium, and travellers from Evliya Çelebi in 1670 to Pouqueville and Leake wrote about it. Ali Pasha had a small lodge here and opened sulphur mines nearby. The old village by the water was destroyed after his death and rebuilt higher up. In 1940 the front line ran past the lake, and Italian tanks are said to have sunk in it. The lake was long privately owned, until a court ruled in 2011 that it belongs to the State.
Nature
The lake and the land within 500 m of it are a protected Place of Special Natural Beauty and part of the Natura 2000 network. Rich birdlife, including rare species, lives around it, and brown bears have settled in the area.
Visit
Swimming
No reliable information
Tips
The lake is about 14 km before the Kakavia border post on the road from Ioannina. In summer swimming is the main activity, visitors from Ioannina come for the day, and caravans park along the shore. The bottom drops away steeply. Bring what you need, as there are few facilities. A festival with concerts has been held here in August.
Nearby, where the Gormos joins the Kalamas, the site known as Agioi has lush vegetation and a frescoed Ottoman-era hermitage carved into the rock, beside an old road bridge.
Nearby lakes
Show on mapPhoto: Ale30307 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Sources & data
- OpenStreetMap: Λίμνη Ζαραβίνα (way 128906468), OpenStreetMap contributors
- Greek Wikipedia: Λίμνη Ζαραβίνα, Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata: Zaravina Lake (Q24896731), Wikimedia Foundation
- The “unknown” Lake Zaravina in Pogoni, Ioannina, Skai
- Zaravina: a small, unknown lake, Travel.gr
- Zaravina: the enchanting lake of legends in Pogoni, Proto Thema
- Zaravina Festival, Youth Centre of Epirus