Lake Voulismeni (Λίμνη Βουλισμένη), widely known as the Lake of Agios Nikolaos, is a small lake in the center of the town. Agios Nikolaos is a scenic town in eastern Crete, and this place is picturesque in particular. As a matter of fact, the Lake is the most prominent landmark of the town. Let's find out 5 facts about this significant Cretan place.
1. Locals thought that the lake was bottomless, or something like a caldera of a volcano crater.
2. The truth is that the lake was a cave, on a tectonic fault, who collapsed creating a deep funnel-shaped sinkhole. The rocks at the lake are limestone breccias. There was a sping running brackish water.
3. The lake is circular. The diameter is 137 m and the depth 64 m, according to captain Thomas Spratt who measured the depth in 1852, or 48.8m according to a recent (2000) measurement by the Faculty of Geology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
4. The lake is connected with the sea via a channel initially constructed by the Ottoman authorities around 1870, being more wide by the French army in 1907.
5. Nowadays around the lake there many taverns and cafes, and the lake is a place of communal meeting: in Easter locals celebrate the Resurrection of Christ with fireworks. In summer cliff diving events are organised by local authorities. Also, on the cliff above the lake, the panoramic view is noteworthy being one of the best selfie spots in Crete.
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