The Artificial Lake of Oreokastro in Thessaloniki

Just a few kilometers from Thessaloniki’s city center you can find the beautiful lake of Oreokastro. Between 1999 and 2000, an old garbage dump was converted into this artificial lake. The lake was named after Panagiotis Ishnopoulos, a vice president of the municipality of Oreakstro who came up with the idea and saw it through. The lake is not well known among Thessaloniki residents, so when I learned about it, I decided to pay it a visit.

When you arrive at the location and park your car in the open space, you will notice a couple of benches and a few trees overlooking the larger lake. There is, in fact, a smaller one just behind the main lake. Poplars and pine trees can be found on the lake’s left side. However there is no path on this side. On the left side though, there is a lovely path between the poplars that you can follow. To be honest, the path is only about 200 meters long but it’s pretty nice.

I visited Oreokastro Lake in the autumn, around the middle of October, when the fall colors were starting to appear. I arrived early in the morning, so there was no one else there. The whole place was so serene. There was no wind, so the lake was completely calm. The reflections of the trees in the water were stunning. And when the sun appeared and began glimmering gorgeous golden light on the yellow leaves, the entire scene came to life.

So, if you live in Thessaloniki and want to find a nice park to escape and get close to nature, Oreokastro Lake is a very good option! If you live at the East side of Thessaloniki you might wanna have a look at Thermi Lake!