Thyamis Explained
| Thyamis |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Length: | 115km (71miles) |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 39.5867°N 20.1422°W |
| Basin Size: | about 1800km2 |
The Thyamis (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Θύαμις), also known as Glykys (Γλυκύς)[1] or Kalamas (Καλαμάς),[2] is a river in the Epirus region of Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea. It is 115km (71miles) long,[3] and its drainage area is about 1800km2, over 99% of which on Greek territory.[4] The names of the Chameria region (Tsamouria in Greek), as well as the Chams, derive from the river's name.
Thyamis in ancient Greece was mentioned by Pausanias[5] as forming the boundary between Thesprotis and Kestrine.[6] [7] In addition, Suda[8] and Ptolemaeus[9] mentioned it.
Geography
The source of the river is near the village Kalpaki, in the northwestern part of the Ioannina regional unit. It flows south at first, and turns southwest near Soulopoulo. It receives its tributary Tyria near Vrosina, and turns west near Kyparisso in Thesprotia, where the hydroelectric dam is located. It empties into the Ionian Sea near the village Kestrini, between Igoumenitsa and Sagiada, close to the Albanian border.
Places along the river include, from source to mouth: Mazaraki, Soulopoulo, Vrosina, Raveni, Pente Ekklisies, Kyparisso, Parapotamos and Kestrini.
During the interwar period of the 20th century, Albanian speaking villages of the Thyamis delta and river basin were small and scattered compared to the upland larger Greek villages of the hilly area to the north.[10]
Environment
Thyamis forms a river delta where it empties in the Ionian Sea, north of Igoumenitsa. The delta is known for being rich in flora and migrating birds stop in its waters for food and rest.
The river, however, has suffered from environmental degradation for decades, due to uncontrolled human activities (farming activity, urban and industrial effluents and waste, lack of management plan and poor coordination of competent authorities for its protection).
See also
Notes and References
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0239:book=7:chapter=7&highlight=thyamis#note-link35 Strabo. Geography, 7.7
- Peck, Harry Thurston. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898, p. 1579. "(Thuamis). Now Kalama; a river in Epirus, forming the boundary between Thesprotia and the district of Cestryna."
- http://www.statistics.gr/documents/20181/1515741/GreeceInFigures_2018Q1_EN.pdf/e90e9c60-ed92-40a7-a1e0-9a58d542d596 Greece in Figures January - March 2018
- Web site: Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment. https://web.archive.org/web/20200215192049/http://www.ypeka.gr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=T4DDG1hqQMY%3D&tabid=252&language=el-GR. 15 February 2020. el. Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. 54.
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+1.11.2 Pausanias. Description of Greece, Attica, 1.11.2
- Finley, M. I. The Portable Greek Historians: The Essence of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius. Viking Portable Library, 1977, p. 220: "There also the river Thyamis flows, forming the boundary between Thesprotis and Kes-trine..."
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=4:chapter=1&highlight=thyamis Pliny the Elder. Natural History, 4.1.2
- https://topostext.org/work/240#th.529 Suda Encyclopedia, §th.529
- https://topostext.org/work/209#3.13.2 Ptolemaeus, Geography, §3.13.2
- Book: Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière. Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. 1967. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 9780198142539. 89–90. "The greater part of the canton of Filiates lies north of the lower Kalamas. It is contained between the river and its northern watershed, along which the present frontier runs between Greece and Albania. There is little fertile land except in the delta and the inner basin of the Kalamas. The northern part of the canton is broken up by a tangle of mountain peaks, and i found it difficult to traverse.... In contrast to the Albanian-speaking villages of the Kalamas delta and basin, these villages are Greek in speech and outlook,.... The other villages have on average some 200 houses, and they are considerably larger than the scattered Albanian-speaking villages of the Kalamas basin."
