| Acheloos | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Pindus mountains |
| Mouth | Ionian Sea |
| Basin countries | Greece |
| Length | 217 km |
The Achelous (Greek: Αχελώος), also Acheloos, is a river in western Greece. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity. It empties into the Ionian Sea. In ancient times its spirit was venerated as the river god Achelous.
Herodotus, taking notice of the shoreline-transforming power of the Acheloos River, even compared it to the Nile in this respect:
The previous name was Thoas. It is rarely known as Thestios and Axenos.
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The river Achelous begins at about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) elevation on the eastern slope of Lakmos mountain in the Pindus range, near the village Milea in the Trikala Prefecture. One of its first tributaries is the Aspropotamos, meaning the white river.
The river flows generally southwards, and forms part of the boundary between the prefectures of Arta and Trikala, which is also the boundary between Epirus and Thessaly. Further downstream, it forms the boundary of Arta and Karditsa Prefecture, and further of Aetolia-Acarnania and Eurytania. The river runs into the Kremasta reservoir, which is also fed by the rivers Agrafiotis and Megdovas.
On exiting the Kremasta reservoir, the river flows southwest into Aetolia-Acarnania, feeding the Kastraki reservoir, west of the Panaitoliko range. 10 to 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) downstream from this lake, it flows into the Stratos reservoir. Further downstream, it runs west of Agrinio and into swamplands and forests. It is crossed by a 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long bridge of GR-5/E55 (Ioannina - Antirio). It finally empties into the Ionian Sea, west of Messolongi. The river has some canyons.
In 1359 the Battle of Achelous between Albanian forces under Peter Losha and the Despotate of Epirus under Nikephoros II Orsini took place near the river Achelous. Nikephoros II was defeated and killed during the battle, and two new states were established in the area the Despotate of Arta and the Despotate of Angelokastron and Lepanto.[1]
In the 1960s, the dam project in the Aitoloacarnania-Evrytania boundary was under construction. The area is not forested. The dam was under construction and the type is a concrete dam. It took years to complete and the flooding of the portion of the western part of the prefecture of Eurytania began. The dam includes a power station with transformer lines in the east. The dam powers electricity for the western part of Greece and the central part. It caused some soil erosion in some flooded valleys. Another dam which is named the Katsiki Dam is downstream. The arch bridges includes the Karafilio and the Ardanovo.
In order from upstream to downstream: