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22-548: Several of the islands have been joined to the mainland by alluvial deposits. Herodotus says that half of the islands had been already united to the mainland in his time (ii. 10); and Thucydides expected that this would be the case with all of them before long, since they lay so close together as to be easily connected by the alluvium brought down by the Achelous River (ii. 102.). This expectation, however, has not been fulfilled, which Pausanias attributed (viii. 24. § 11) to

44-630: Is downstream and was completed in 1969. Downstream of Katsiki, the Stratos Dam was completed in 1989. The arch bridges includes the Karafilio and the Ardanovo . The Acheloos River Diversion project has been the center of debate since the 1980s. It calls for four large dams, the Sykia , Mesochora , Mouzaki and Pyli , along with a 17.4 km-long (10.8 mi) channel. The goal of the project

66-462: Is lofty (421 meters). Makri and Vrómonas are the two islands next in importance. 38°18′13″N 21°6′39″E  /  38.30361°N 21.11083°E  / 38.30361; 21.11083 Achelous River The Achelous ( Greek : Αχελώος , Ancient Greek : Ἀχελῷος Akhelôios ), also Acheloos , is a river in Epirus , western Greece . It is 220 km (137 mi) long. It formed

88-750: Is partly constructed. Further down is the Kremasta (1965), Kastraki (1969) and Stratos Dams (1989). In antiquity, the Achelous was the largest and most celebrated river in Greece, rising in Mount Pindus , and after flowing through the mountainous country of the Dolopians and Agraeans , entered the plain of Acarnania and Aetolia near Stratus , and discharged itself into the Ionian Sea , near

110-461: Is to divert 600,000,000 m (490,000 acre⋅ft) annually from the river west towards the Thessaly plains in order to help irrigate 240,000–380,000 ha (590,000–940,000 acres) of mostly cotton crops. Construction on the project has been stalled several times, the latest in 2005, because of environmental and social concerns. Drakonera Drakonera (Greek: Δρακονέρα) is an island of

132-739: The Echinades , among the Ionian Islands group of Greece . Drakonera forms part of the northern group of the Echinades, which are called the Drakoneras after the island. The mainland with the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit is to the north and east. Several islets surround the area. It is administered by the municipality of Ithaca . As of 2011 , it had no resident population. This Ionian Islands location article

154-602: The Kremasta Dam in the Aitoloacarnania-Evrytania boundary was under construction. The area is not forested. The dam, made of concrete, took years to complete, eventually flooding a portion of the western part of the prefecture of Eurytania. 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. The Kastraki Dam

176-587: The Stratos reservoir. Further downstream, it runs through the lowlands west of Agrinio . It finally empties into the Ionian Sea , 29 km (18 mi) west of Missolonghi . In order from upstream to downstream: There are five dams on the river. From upstream to downstream there is the Mesochora Dam which was completed in 2001 but has not impounded its reservoir. Below that is the Sykia Dam which

198-479: The Acarnanian town of Oeniadae . It subsequently formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia, but in the time of Thucydides the territory of Oeniadae extended east of the river. It is usually called a river of Acarnania, but it is sometimes assigned to Aetolia. Its general direction is from north to south. Its waters are of a whitish yellow or cream colour, whence it derives a later name of Aspropotamo or

220-483: The Achelous bringing down less alluvium in consequence of the uncultivated condition of Aetolia ; but there can be little doubt that it is owing to the increasing depth of the sea, which prevents any perceptible progress being made. The Echinades are mentioned by Homer, who, in the Iliad , says that Meges , son of Phyleus , led 40 ships to Troy from Dulichium and the sacred islands Echinae , which are situated beyond

242-649: The Echinades are divided into two clusters, besides Petalas (Petalá), which, being, quite barren and close to the mainland, is not claimed, or at least is not occupied by the Ithacans, though anciently it was undoubtedly one of the Echinades. The northern cluster is commonly called the Drakoneres , from Drakonera , the principal island; and the southern, the Ouniades or Oxeiae. By the Venetians they were known as

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264-487: The Echinades as inhabited; but both Thucydides and Scylax represent them as deserted. Strabo simply says that they were barren and rugged (x. p. 458). Stephanus of Byzantium names a town Apollonia situated in one of the islands (s. v. Ἀπολλωνία ). Pliny the Elder gives us the names of nine of these islands — Aegialia , Cotonis , Thyatira , Geoaris , Dionysia , Cyrnus , Chalcis , Pinara , Mystus . Another of

286-474: The Echinades was Artemita ( Ἀρτεμίτα ), which became united to the mainland. Artemidorus spoke of Artemita as a peninsula near the mouth of the Achelous, and Rhianus connected it with the Oxeiae (Oxeias, Oxiés, or Scrofés) islands. (Steph. B. s. v. Ἀπτεμίτα ) The Oxeiae ( αἱ Ὀξεῖαι ) are sometimes spoken of as a separate group of islands to the west or south of the Echinades, but are included by Strabo under

308-698: The Echinades, most identifying it with the island of Makri . Euripides (in Iphigeneia at Aulis ) identifies the Echinades with the islands of Taphos (Taphiae Insulae). However, most modern scholars, including the editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World , place the island of Taphos at Meganisi east of Lefkada , quite northwest of the Echinades; hence, the islands of Taphos would include Meganisi, Kalamos , Kastos , and surrounding islands. Homer, as we have already seen, describes

330-552: The White river, and to which Dionysius Periegetes probably alludes in the epithet ἀργυροδίνης. Periegetes places the sources of the river near a place called Chalcis . It is said to have been called more anciently Thoas , Axenus and Thestius . In the lower part of its course, the plain through which it flows was called in antiquity Paracheloitis after the river. This plain was celebrated for its fertility, though covered in great part with marshes, several of which were formed by

352-577: 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: It is said to have been called more anciently Thoas , Axenus and Thestius . The river Achelous begins at about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) elevation on

374-601: The boundary of Arta and Karditsa , and further of Aetolia-Acarnania and Evrytania . 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 (6.2 to 9.3 mi) downstream from this lake, it flows into

396-600: The eastern slope of Lakmos mountain in the Pindus range, near the village Anthousa in the westernmost part of the Trikala regional unit . 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 regional units of Arta and Trikala, which is also the boundary between Epirus and Thessaly . Further downstream, it forms

418-532: The general name of Echinades (x. p. 458). The Oxeiae, according to Strabo, are mentioned by Homer under the synonymous name of Thoae or Thoai. The Echinades derived their name from the echinus or the sea urchin , in consequence of their sharp and prickly outlines. For the same reason they were called Oxeiae , or the Sharp Islands, a name which one of them still retains under the slightly altered form of Oxeia (Oxiés, Oxiá, or Oxia). Leake remarks that

440-545: The islands of Kurtzolári , which name belongs properly to a peninsula to the left of the mouth of the Achelous, near Oxeia. Seventeen of the islands have names, besides the four Modia (Stamodio or Módi Islands), two of which are mere rocks, and nine of the seventeen are cultivated. These are, beginning from the south — Oxeia (Oxiá), Makri (Makrí), Vrómonas (Vromotas or Vrómona), Pontikos (Pondikónisi), Karlonísi (Karlónísi), Prováti , Lampriní (Lambrinó), Sofía (Sofiá), also known as Gaia, Drakonera (Dhragonára). Oxeia alone

462-515: The overflowings of the Achelous. 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 . In the 1960s,

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484-663: The sea, opposite Elis . Phyleus was the son of Augeas , king of the Epeians in Elis, who emigrated to Dulichium because he had incurred his father's anger. In the Odyssey , Dulichium (which may be an island in the Echniades) is frequently mentioned along with Same ( Kefalonia ), Zacynthus , and Ithaca as one of the islands subject to Ulysses , and is celebrated for its fertility. Strabo, and most modern writers, place Dulichium among

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