Lake Kournas

Lake Kournas is a lake on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, Greece, near the village of Kournas. It is in the

Apokoronas Apokoronas ( el, Αποκόρωνας) is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) in the Chania regional unit, north-west Crete, Greece. It is situated on the north coast of Crete, to the east of Chania itself. The seat of the munici ...

municipality of Chania regional unit close to the border with Rethymno regional unit, 47 km from the town of

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

. Kournas is a fairly large village perched on a hill overlooking the lake. Crete's only freshwater lake, Lake Kournas, is relatively large, with a perimeter of 3.5 km. There is a nature preserve on the Southwest side of the lake. There is a rustic road from the North of the lake to the Hills on the West of the lake. The lake used to be called ''Koresia'' after ancient

Korion Corium or Korion ( grc, Κόριον) was a town of ancient Crete, near which was a temple to Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was lat ...

, a city thought to be in the area with a temple to

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

. The lake used to contain eels but now is better known for its terrapins and tourism. Tavernas and

pedalo A pedalo (British English) or paddle boat (U.S., Canadian, and Australian English) is a human-powered watercraft propelled by the action of pedals turning a paddle wheel. Description A pedalo is a human-powered watercraft propelled by the ...

rental shops line part of the shore. {{Crete-geo-stub Kournas Populated places in Chania (regional unit) Landforms of Crete