All visitors of Xanthi should not miss going to Vistonida Lake with
its canals and reed thickets surrounding it as well as the small delta of the
rivers flowing into it. Lagoons such as Lafre, Lafrouda, Alyki, Elos and Porto
Lagos complete this natural beauty. In the Porto Lagos lagoon one can visit the
chapels of St Nicholas and Virgin Mary which are built on small islets.
Lake Vistonida was formulated 5,000,000 years ago. It was named after
the Vistons, a Thracian tribe living around. The area of the lake is 42 sq.km.
The size of the lake decreases and increases alternately for almost 6 sq.km.,
depending on the season. The average depth of the lake is 2 ? 2.5 m. (max. 3 m.).
It is a peculiarity of Vistonida Lake that there are great fluctuations
in the salt content of its water. Thus, the water in the Northern part of the
lake is brackish because of the influx of three rivers: Kosynthos, Kompsatos and
Travos. On the contrary, the Southern part of the lake has salty water because
of three canals connecting the lake with the sea.
All sorts of birds, in impressive numbers, dominate the area. There
is also a great variety in vegetation and fauna. The silent (for human ears) world
of fish amounts to 37 different species (including striped grey mullets and eels)
in the lake. The animals living around are either carnivorous or herbivorous at
various sizes. Wild cats, jackals and badgers seek refuge in the forests, the
bushes and the delta of Kompsatos River, whereas, at a larger scale, there are
wolves and roes.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Prefecture of Xanthi URL below, which contains map.
Tel: +30 25410 96646
Fax: +30 25410 96646
Bistonis (Bistonis limne; Lagos Buru), a great Thracian lake in the country of the Bistones, from whom it derived its name. (Strab. i. p. 59, vii. p. 333; Ptol. iii. 11. § 7; Scymn. Chius, 673; Plin. iv. 18.) The water of the lake was brackish (whence it is called limnothalassa), and abounded in fish. (Aristot. H. A. viii. 15.) The fourth part of its produce is said to have been granted by the emperor Arcadius to the convent of Vatopedi on Mount Athos. The river Cossinites emptied itself into the lake Bistonis (Aelian, H. A. xv. 25), which at one time overflowed the neighbouring country and swept away several Thracians towns. (Strab. i. p. 59.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Stabulum Diomedis (Itin. Ant. p. 331; It. Hier. p. 603), a place on the coast
of Thrace, on the Via Egnatia, 18,000 paces, according to Itin. Ant., 12,000,
according to It. Hier., from Porsula, or Maximianopolis; probably the same as
Pliny (iv. 11. s. 18) calls Tirida: Oppidum fuit Tirida, Dio medis equorum stabulis
dirum. This Diomedes was king of the Bistones in Thrace, and was in the habit
of throwing strangers to be devoured by his savage horses, till at length he himself
was punished in the same way by Hercules. (Mela, ii. 2. § 8.) Lapie places it
near the modern Iassikeni.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
