Zerelia Lakes of Magnesia: a well-kept secret known only to a few

Located near Almyro in the foothills of Mount Othryos and at a height of just 130 metres above the sea, the Zerelia Lakes are hardly known to anyone barring the locals, in spite of their unusual shape and the manner in which they were formed, which makes them unique in Greece and one of the few of their kind in Europe and the world.

Small and perfectly round, they are believed to be crater lakes formed by the fall of meteorites during the Holocene, between 8,000 and 12,000 years ago. The size of the meteorite fragments that hit the earth is estimated at around 10-30 metres across.

Both can be easily reached from Almyros, which is about four kilometres away. Big Zerelia has a diameter of about 250 metres and is about eight metres deep, while Small Zerelia has a diameter of 150 metres and a depth of six metres, while the bottom of both is plate-shaped.

There are no more than 40 such locations in Europe and 178 worldwide, while the area also has archaeological remains of a Bronze-age prehistoric settlement at a distance of 200 metres from the lakes.

Source: amna.gr