Rare drone view of the place where Hercules completed his labour: "The Stymphalian Birds"

4 years ago
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Stymfalia is a swampy lake in mountainous Corinth. It is located on a plateau at an altitude of 600 meters between the mountains Kyllini and Oligyrtos. It retains water mainly during the winter months and its area reaches 3.5 sq.km. The depth of the Lake in the places where it is permanently covered by water ranges from 2 / 2.5 meters in the Spring and about half (0.5) meter in the beginning of Autumn.
Lake Stymfalia is associated with the sixth feat of Hercules who in the area faced the Stymfalides Hens. Hercules managed to lure the hens out of the dense vegetation of the lake, thanks to the copper rattlesnakes given to him by the goddess Athena. Then Hercules succeeded the hens that were revealed with his arrows.
The Arcadian city of Stymfalos was built near the shores of the lake. In Roman times the emperor Hadrian built an aqueduct with which he supplied Corinth with water from the lake.
Phoxinellus stymfalicious fish, which is endemic to the lake, survives in the lake. Its characteristic is that it has the ability to survive when the lake dries, immersed in the thick layer of mud that is created. Migratory birds also find refuge in the lake and for many of them the lake is a breeding ground

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