Photo: RoubinakiM · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Koliri · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lake Pineios is a large artificial lake on the Pineios in Ilia, north-east of Amaliada and east of ancient Elis. It is described as the largest artificial lake in the Peloponnese.
How it formed
The earth dam, begun in the 1960s and completed in 1968, is 50 m high and over 2 km long, the highest in Elis. It was built to supply water to northern Elis, and the river is the one Heracles is said to have turned aside to clean the Augean stables. The lake has lost much of its size in recent decades, and in the drought of 2025 its level fell very low.
History
Before the valley was flooded, the Greek Archaeological Service and foreign schools surveyed it. British teams excavated sites at Kostoureika and Keramidia in 1969, finding Early Helladic pottery and remains from the Hellenistic to the late Roman period.
Visit
Swimming
No reliable information
Tips
The lake draws walkers and hikers, and there is parking. Ancient Elis is close by and makes a natural stop on the way. The water level can be low in dry years.
Nearby lakes
Show on mapPhoto: RoubinakiM · CC BY-SA 4.0
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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: Τεχνητή Λίμνη Πηνειού (relation 7792247), OpenStreetMap contributors
- Greek Wikipedia: Λίμνη Πηνειού, Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata: Pinios Lake (Q15057381), Wikimedia Foundation
- Pinios artificial lake, Land Life Travel
- Elis 1969: the Peneios Valley rescue excavation project, Aegeus Society
- Wikipedia: Pineios (Peloponnese), Wikimedia Foundation
- Lake Pinios, Visit Olympia
- Greece’s Pineios Lake runs dry (2025), Greek Reporter