| Haliacmon | |
|---|---|
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| Native name | Αλιάκμονας (Greek) |
| Location | |
| Country | Greece |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Pindus Mountains |
| • coordinates | 40°21′50.95″N20°48′9.18″E / 40.3641528°N 20.8025500°E /40.3641528; 20.8025500 |
| • elevation | ~2100 m (~6,890 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Aegean Sea |
• coordinates | 40°28′4″N22°39′15″E / 40.46778°N 22.65417°E /40.46778; 22.65417 |
| Length | 297 km (185 mi) |
| Basin size | 8,813 km2 (3,403 sq mi) |
TheHaliacmon (Greek:Αλιάκμονας,Aliákmonas; formerly:Ἁλιάκμων,Aliákmon orHaliákmōn) is the longest river ofGreece, flowing entirely on Greek soil in the region ofMacedonia, with a total length of 297 km (185 mi).[1] In Greece there are three rivers longer than Haliacmon:Evros (Greek:Έβρος),Strymonas (Greek: Στρυμόνας), both coming fromBulgaria, andAxios (Greek:Αξιός) coming fromNorth Macedonia, but the length of each one of them in Greek territory is less than that of Haliacmon, which flows entirely in Greece.Haliacmon is the traditional English name for the river, but many sources cite the formerly officialKatharevousa version of the name,Aliákmon. Today, the onlyofficial variant is thedemoticAliákmonas. It flows through the Greekregions ofWestern Macedonia (Kastoria,Grevena andKozani regional units) andCentral Macedonia (Imathia andPieria regional units). Itsdrainage basin is 8,813 km2 (3,403 sq mi).[2]
TheLatin nameHaliacmon is derived fromAncient GreekΑλιάκμονας, a composite derived fromάλας (salt, sea) andάκμων (anvil). InGreek mythology,Haliacmon was one of theriver gods, who were sons ofOceanus andTethys, according to the allegorical obsessive-anthropomorphic concept familiar to theAncient Greeks, on geological upheaval afterDeucalion's deluge.
An ancient tradition says that sheep that drank water from Haliacmon would turn their colour to white. This tradition is confirmed by the following record of the Roman authorPliny the Elder (23-79 AD) :Similarly in Macedonia, those who want their sheep to be white go to Haliacmon, while those (who want them to be) black (go) to Axios (Vardar).
Ottoman Turks called the river Ince-Karasu (narrow-black water), a name still used inTurkey. TheEastern South Slavic name is Бистрица,Bistritsa (Бистрица, fromProto-Slavic *-bystr, meaning "clear, lucid, limpid")[3] which is still in use in Bulgaria and North Macedonia.[4][5][6]
Before the construction of its diversion dam near the village of Aghia Varvara in the mid-1950s, Haliacmon had no permanent river bed in its lowland course. It often flooded and formed extensivemarshes. Its devastating fury in December 1935 remains fresh in memory of the elder inhabitants of the region (Veria andAlexandreia).
The Haliacmon rises in theGramos mountains ofWestern Macedonia, near the international border withAlbania. In its upper course it flows generally towards the east, and turns southeast nearKastoria. It describes a wide curve around theVourinos mountains, and turns northeast near the villagePaliouria. It feeds the large artificiallake Polyfyto, that was created after the construction of the namesake hydroelectric dam and consists almost its entire course through the Kozani prefecture. Over the bridge runs theLake Polyfytos Bridge, part of theAthens-Kozani national road. Southeast ofVeria, the Haliacmon enters thecentral Macedonian plains, an area of great importance to agriculture. It flows into theThermaic Gulf west of the delta of theAxios (Vardar), northeast of the coastal townMethoni.
Haliacmon's tributaries include Gramos, Ladopotamos, Pramoritsa, Grevenitikos, Venetikos, Tripotamos and Krasopoulis.
The Haliacmon flows along the towns (in downstream order)Nestorio,Argos Orestiko,Neapoli,Paliouria,Velventos,Veria andAlexandreia.
Haliacmon contains 33 kinds of fish. These includebrown trout,gilt-head bream,sardine,carp, pike,eel,european anchovy,nursehound,bogue,garfish,red porgy,saddled seabream,angler, bream,mediterranean sand smelt,sand steenbras,mullus barbatus, freshwater bass,tuna,salmon,Mediterranean moray,weever,longfin gurnard,dogfish,dusky grouper,school shark andturbot. About 30 of them are indigenous, while the rest were introduced by human intervention. Many of them are considered scarce and one,mavrotsironi, lives nowhere else in the world, i.e. it isendemic. Μost of these kinds of fish have no commercial value but only biological, since they support thefood web. Fish found in Haliacmon, likecarp andrainbow trout, indicate that its water is still pure. Some eels are found in its estuaries, that cannot migrate, hindered by the dams.
For amateur fishermen the river has been enriched with introduced rainbow trout, that is not easy to reproduce, so there is no danger of disturbance of the river'secosystem.
In the place where the river flows into the sea, there has been formed over the years an extendeddelta of 4.000 hectares, because of the large dam that was constructed and retains much of the brought matters. As a result, silting has been greatly reduced and during the summer, when there is not much water, the sea enters and largely overwhelms the river bed.Flathead mullets andEuropean seabasses are found in Haliacmon's delta. In the shallow marine areas formed there, the fry of manyAegean Sea's fish finds a place to reproduce, while about 90% of Greece'smussels are produced in the Haliacmon-Axios (Vardar) delta. Aliki Kitrous is an area of 254 hectares, where 15–20.000 tons ofsalt are produced per year. The delta is a national park known as theAxios-Loudias-Haliacmon Delta National Park.
Many kinds of birds have been observed in Haliacmon's region. They use it for accommodation and overwintering, like theducks, or to rest on their long migratory journey. There have been observed 215 kinds of birds and about ⅓ of them nest in the region. Over 10% of the birds are endangered. They includeDalmatian pelican andcurlew, that are considered to be among the rarest birds in the world. 27 kinds of rare and protected kinds of birds nest in the region, likepurple heron.
In antiquity,Claudius Ptolemy called the chain of mountains in which the river rises (northernPindus) theCanalovii. According toJulius Caesar, the Haliacmon formed the line of demarcation betweenMacedon andThessaly. In the upper part of its course it took a southeast direction throughElimiotis, which it watered; and then, continuing to the northeast, formed the boundary betweenPieria,Eordaea, andImathia. In the time ofHerodotus the Haliacmon was apparently joined by theLoudias7, 127, the discharge of the lake ofPella; but a change has taken place in the course of the Loudias, which no longer joins the Haliacmon, but flows directly into theAegean Sea. The image below shows awind gap between the Haliacmon and Loudiaswatersheds that is the probable ancient course of the Haliacmon.
It was the domain of the eponymous river godHaliacmon.
Media related toHaliacmon at Wikimedia Commons
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