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Giannitsa Lake ( el, Λίμνη Γιαννιτσών), also known as Loudias Lake ( el, Λίμνη Λουδία) is a former post-glacial lake in
Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...
, Greece, south of the town of
Giannitsa
Giannitsa ( el, Γιαννιτσά , in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece.
The municipal unit ...
and north of
Gidas (later renamed Alexandreia). It or the surrounding
marshland
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
were sometimes called Borboros 'slime' or Borboros Limen. Shallow, swampy, and variable-sized, it was drained from 1928 to 1932 and became agricultural land.
History
It was fed by the
Loudias River and the plain of
Roumlouki stretched to its south.
In
Bulgarian the lake was called Enidzhevardarsko Lake (Ениджева̀рдарското езеро) or Pazarsko Swamp (Пазарското блато).
The Lake played a major role in the
Macedonian Struggle
The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...
between the Greeks and Bulgarians, as it provided hiding places for the armed bands of both sides. The conflict for control of the Lake is the central historical event of
Penelope Delta
Penelope Delta (; 1874, Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt – 2 May 1941, Athens, Greece) was a Greek author. She is widely celebrated for her contributions to the field of children's literature. Her historical novels have been widely read and hav ...
's 1937 novel ''The Secrets of the Swamp''.
The lake was drained in 1928-1932 by the New York Foundation Company.
[Eugene N. Borza, ''In the shadow of Olympus: the emergence of Macedon'' (1992) , p. 289; Matthieu Ghilardi ''et al.'', "Human occupation and geomorphological evolution of the Thessaloniki Plain (Greece) since mid Holocene", ''Journal of Archaeological Science'' 35:1:111-125 (January 2008)]
Gallery
File:Agras-Tellos-Agapinos Nikiforos-Ioannis-Demestihas Kalas-Constantine-Sarros.jpg, Greek revolutionaries Tellos Agras and Ioannis Demestichas at Giannitsa Lake
File:Apostol Petkov ASonnichsen1906.jpg, Bulgarian revolutionary Apostol Petkov
Apostol Petkov Terziev ( Bulgarian/ mk, Апостол Петков Терзиев) (May 6, 1869 – August 2, 1911) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and one of the leaders of the national liberation movement in Ottoman Macedonia. He was ...
at Giannitsa Lake c. 1906
Notes
External links
Google Earth view of Giannitsa and the drained lakebed
Lakes of Greece
Landforms of Central Macedonia
Former lakes of Europe
{{CentralMacedonia-geo-stub