The Krafsidonas ( el, Κραυσίδωνας) is, with a length of , the longest
torrent
Torrent or torrents may refer to:
* A fast flowing stream
Animals
* Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae
* Torrent fish
* Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs
* Torrent robin, a bird species
* Torrent salamander, a family of sala ...
that runs solely within the interior of
Volos
Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. It has its origin in the central
Pelion
Pelion or Pelium (Modern el, Πήλιο, ''Pílio''; Ancient Greek/Katharevousa: Πήλιον, ''Pēlion'') is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the ...
Mountains, flowing southwest to the
Pagasetic Gulf
The Pagasetic Gulf ( el, Παγασητικός κόλπος, Pagasitikós kólpos) is a rounded gulf (max. depth 102 metres) in the Magnesia regional unit (east central Greece) that is formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula. It is connected with ...
.
The places that the river flows through include
Volos
Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...
,
Nea Ionia
Nea Ionia ( el, Νέα Ιωνία, meaning New Ionia) is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. It was named after Ionia, the region in Anatolia from which many Greeks migrated in the 1920s as a part of the ...
,
Portaria
Portaria (Greek: Πορταριά) is a village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Volos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area ...
in Greece. There are a number of bridges over the river.
Floodings
The width of Krafsidonas'
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also re ...
was significantly reduced from 1945, when the delta spanned 240 m, to 2023, when it reached only 40 m. Moreover, from the 1950s, there have been many construction works to straighten the Krafsidonas and turn it into a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
, narrowing down the torrent's outlet. As a result, floodings became more probable.
Furthermore, many buildings have been constructed on the torrent's banks, placed in direct flooding danger.
In 1988, there even was a proposal to turn the Krafsidonas into a road, but some locals protested, stopping the plan in its tracks.
October 10, 2006
The city of Volos was flooded on October 10, 2006, one of the prefecture's worst recorded floods. The flood devastated crops and groves and many homes. A railroad bridge connecting Volos and Larissa collapsed when the central stone support was ruined by a combination of rocks, mud and debris carried by a swollen river. Almost one fifth of the city faced severe mudslides.
September 5, 2023
Another significant flooding of the Krafsidonas stream occurred on the 5th of September 2023, as a result of the
severe storm Daniel that hit parts of Greece, and especially
Magnesia, causing many deaths and extensive damage to buildings, businesses and public infrastructure. The Krafsidonas destroyed part of Volos' nursing home and a wooden bridge connecting Volos to Nea Ionia, while carrying cars, buses, trees and other debris along its course.
See also
*
List of rivers of Greece
This is a list of rivers that are at least partially in Greece. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. The confluence is given in parentheses.
For an a ...
References
{{Reflist
Rivers of Greece
Landforms of Magnesia (regional unit)
Rivers of Thessaly
Drainage basins of the Aegean Sea