When it was submerged, the few residents of the village were forced to relocate to Lidoriki or Athens.
Kallio—also known as “the sunken village” of the former province of Doris—lies at the site where the artificial Mornos Lake was created in 1980. This reservoir supplies water to the capital via Europe’s longest aqueduct network, spanning approximately 192 kilometers.
Nestled between Mount Giona and the Vardousia range, the area was initially flooded by waters from the Mornos—whose primary sources originate in Mount Oeta. The few villagers were compelled to move to Lidoriki or Athens, though some used their compensation to rebuild the village above the new lakeshore.
Back then, the project—featuring a dam about 126 meters tall—impounded nearly 800 million cubic meters of water.
Today, however, the water level has dropped so drastically that the road leading to the ancient castle—along with the ruins of the Church of Saint Nicholas—has reemerged. Climate change-linked prolonged drought is clearly reflected in the water’s recession—now down by 35 to even 40 meters.
Photo report by Eri Kontonikou and Vangelis Kontogeorgos, LamiaReport
