| Description |
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:
'There are other rivers as well which, though not as large as the Nile, have had substantial results. In particular (although I could name others), there is the Achelous, which flows through Acarnania into the sea and has already turned half the Echinades islands into mainland.' (2.10, trans. Waterfield).
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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achelous_River). |