It is the first time that a thorough cleaning of Lake Pamvotida has been carried out. Until now, only the bottom of the small pier from where the tourist boats depart was cleaned. Nisakithe small lake island (islands located within lakes) of the Pamvótida. “The volume and wide variety of findings from the underwater cleanup operations have exceeded our expectations,” Katerina Jioteli, head of the Protected Areas Management Unit of Epirus, the region in which the lake is located, told local media. one of the regions with the greatest variety of landscapes in Greece.
Among the recovered objects, several Ottoman-era projectiles and a military jeep stand out, but also everyday objects such as bicycles, mobile phones, a still, boats and a collection of ancient ceramic vessels that are being analyzed by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the region. . Experts expect the remains of an Italian war plane which would have fallen into the lake during World War II and which, according to sources, would be in the vicinity of the lake island.
During the cleaning work, which will last until December 20, the participation of professional divers with experience in high-altitude diving has been necessary because the lake is located about 470 meters above sea level.
Witness of History
With seven kilometers in length, Lake Pomvótida is one of the most important wetlands in the country. Despite the degradation caused by human hands, the lake, registered in the Natura network of protected areas, houses a rich biodiversity and is home to dozens of native and endangered species, among which herons, grebes, snipes, swans and cormorants, as well as other protected species of fish, while its banks are full of ancient plane trees, poplars, willows and reeds. The fog that usually covers the lake in the early hours of the day during the cold seasons and its calm waters have inspired thousands of stories and legends.
Everyday remains taken from the bottom of the lake
On the western shore of the lake is the city of Ioánnina, melting pot where the three great monotheistic religions coexisted in harmony for centuries. The city, a refuge for poets and writers, lived its golden age at the end of the 18th century at the hands of Ali Pasha, when the city became the capital of the Despotate of Epirus.
From the lake pier, dozens of boats leave daily for Nisaki, one of the few inhabited European lake islandshome to a hundred fishing families. The island is also home to one of the most important monastic communities in the country, made up of 8 monasteries, mostly built in the 16th century.
Among the recovered objects, a dozen military helmets belonging to German soldiers who fought in Greece during World War II stand out. It should be noted that in October 1943, in the town of Ligades, a few kilometers from Ioánnina, Nazi troops annihilated the vast majority of the town’s population in retaliation for the death of Josef SalmingerGerman officer who was a friend of Hitler. Furthermore, during World War II, the German occupation troops deported all Jews, –many of them sephardic–, from Ioánnina to German extermination camps. After the armistice, the Jewish community of Ioánnina was reduced to 181 members: 112 survivors of the extermination camps and 69 survivors who had hidden in Christian homes or had escaped to the mountains. Currently less than fifty Jews live in the city.
The objects rescued in the lake are another window into the rich history of the area. That is why, until the lake cleaning work is finished, the treasures rescued from the lake will be displayed in Mavili Square, on the shore of the lake, so that residents can learn a little more about their city’s past.
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