Eurotas River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For a Greek mythological figure see Eurotas.

The Eurotas or Evrotas (Greek: Ευρώτας) is a river in the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The river originates in the Taygetos mountains and flows for 82 km. It flows through the city of Sparta and empties into the Laconic Gulf. Historically, it was used as a transportation method by the Ancient Spartans as an alternative to their port located at Gytheio.

The Evrotas was swamped by major floods, ruined properties in 1999. In November 24, 2005, a low-pressure system caused floods along the river and threatened buildings and properties and stranded automobiles as streets were flooded and crops including the famous orange and olive groves were damaged, most of those were in the town of Elos, the flood also affected villages along the valley and Gytheio. 170 km² of land was ruined.