| South of Georgioupoli, in an area of natural beauty, is the only natural lake in Crete, the Kournas Lake. |
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From ancient times it has always been shrouded in mystery because of the frequent changes of colour of its waters. In former times people thought that it was bottomless, but more recent investigations have shown that it is only 25 metres deep. | |||
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| In
Antiquity a temple to Athene was located at the lake, which at that time
was called Korisia. Probably the lake got its present name in the Arabic
Period, as 'kurna' in Arabic means 'lake'.
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Today there are several restaurants and tourist shops at the lake. |
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You can also cool off by going for a swim in the water or taking a ride in a pedal boat. | |||
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| South
of the lake a huge cave with great stalactite formations was discovered
in 1961. Regrettably, there is no admittance to the cave.
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| The water of the 60 hectares big lake has for many years been used for the public water supply, but because of the increasing water consumption in Georgioupoli and Rethymno, OADYK [The Organization for Development of Western Crete] have decided that the water level must not be lower than 15 metres, as they fear that the unrestrained drainage might result in irretrievable damage to the unique wetland and cause penetration of salt water into the fresh water of the lake. |
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| As
you can see in the table below, the Kournas Lake provides considerable
amounts of water (stated in cubic metres):
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| 1990 | 291.950 | |||
| 1991 | 1.756.300 | |||
| 1992 | 548.100 | |||
| 1993 | 747.000 | |||
| 1994 | 1.250.400 | |||
| 1995 | 1.328.400 | |||
| 1996 | 1.452.000 | |||
| 1997 | 1.980.000 | |||
| 1998 | 2.062.800 | |||
| 1999 | 1.785.600 | |||
| 2000 | 2.242.800 | |||
| 2001 | 1.784.400 | |||
| 2002 | 1.444.800 | |||
| 2003 | 1.881.000 | |||
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| The beautiful and unique area from Cape Drapano to the lake is included in NATURA 2000. |
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The
Myth about the Lake
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At
the beginning of time the Kournas Lake did not exist at all. But near by
there was a small village, where people lived happily together. Every day
they worked in the fields and they were delighted with the fertility of
the soil.
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In
the village there lived a young girl, who was so bewitchingly beautiful
that even the fairest fairytale princesses paled by comparison to her.
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When
strangers came to town, they immediately asked to see her, so great was
her fame. Everyone was so struck by her beauty that they completely forgot
to return to their own homes. Instead, they decided to settle down in the
village in order to take pleasure in the girl's presence.
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Of
course people, being proud of the beautiful girl, protected her as if she
were the most precious treasure.
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But
one day the girl decided to take a look at the world. Even though the
villagers tried to talk her out of it, she insisted. Therefore they agreed
to give her an escort from the village, so that she would come back safely.
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The
day of departure arrived, and all her townsmen gathered in the square to
say goodbye. They were all dressed up and had brought their musical
instruments in order to make it a great day, but the atmosphere was gloomy,
and nobody was cheerful.
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When
the girl saw the sadness of her fellow citizens, she felt sorry for them.
She therefore began to sing with her beautiful voice, and soon everybody
brightened up. When the party was at its height and everybody was happy,
the girl set out with her companion.
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Walking
along she gazed curiously at all the beauty that surrounded her, while her
companion told her about all the things which they saw.
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After
a while they came to a spring, where they made a break to cool their hot
bodies in the refreshing water. When her companion wanted to continue the
walk, the girl begged fervently to stay a little longer, as she wanted to
wash and comb her long, golden hair.
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However,
something terrible happened at the very moment when she loosened her hair
and it fell to her shoulders, looking as if it were made of pure gold. Her
companion looked at her with "evil eyes". His look was so
terrifying that the girl, beside herself with horror, started screaming:
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"Let
the earth open and become a lake. I would rather be swallowed up by the
lake than by those eyes."
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At
once the earth opened up and a lake broke out. The girl was drawn into the
abyss and turned into a Nereid.
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| Nereids are supernatural beings with the torso of a woman and the tail of a fish. They are daughters of the merman Nereus, who was a son of Pontos (Sea) and Gaia (Earth). Nereids have great wisdom and prophetic powers, and from the mythological Sirens they inherited their dangerous and seductive singing. | ||||
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