Cercinitis or Kerkinitis ( el, Κερκινίτιδα) was a lake in ancient
Edonis
The B Engineering Edonis is a sports car developed in the year 2000 and manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer B Engineering with overall engineering by Nicola Materazzi (ex Lancia, Ferrari & Bugatti) and styling by Marc Deschamps ( ...
, in the lower valley of the river
Strymon. It was located within today's
Serres regional unit and is identified with the currently dried
Achinos Lake.
According to Arrian, in this lake was anchored
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
’s fleet before sailing to
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
beach. Archaeological findings (stone anchors etc.) and inscriptions show the existence of both sailing on the lake and ancient lakeside settlements near the current villages of
Paralimni
Paralimni ( el, Παραλίμνι) is a town within the Famagusta District of Cyprus, situated on the island's east coast. Since the Turkish invasion in 1974, it has increased in size and status, primarily due to the migration of refugees fleein ...
,
Pethelinos
Pethelinos ( el, Πεθελινός) is a small village in the Serres regional unit of Central Macedonia, Greece 22 km away from the town of Serres, and 2.5 km from the Strymon River
The Struma or Strymónas ( bg, Струма ; el ...
, Psychiko and Mesokomi.
Since the river
Strymon was floating from its estuary to lake Cercinitis, formed thus a waterway that allowed commercial penetration from the
Strymonian Gulf The Strymonian or Strymonic Gulf (), also known as the Orfano Gulf (), is a branch of the Thracian Sea—itself part of the Aegean Sea—lying east of the Chalcidice peninsula and south of the Serres regional unit. It was formerly known as the Gul ...
to the hinterland reaching almost to the ancient city of
Serres
Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki.
Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Nort ...
.
[D. C. Samsaris, La navigation dans l’ ancien lac de Cercinitis d’ après une inscription inédite trouvée dans le village actuel de Paralimnion de Serrès, «Makedonika» 19(1979) 421 & D. C. Samsaris, Recherches sur l’ histoire de la navigation des habitants du cours inférieur du Strymon dans l’ Antiquité, "Thracia Pontica I" : Premier Symposium International (Sozopol, 9-12 Octobre 1979), Sofia 1982, p. 259-266]
References
Landforms of Serres (regional unit)
{{CMacedonia-geo-stub