In 1962, it was decided to drain Lake Karla; the boats were withdrawn. Although the landscape changed, the Byzantine church of Agios Nikolaos of Kanalia kept being a reference point for the area’s inhabitants. Agios Nikolaos was associated in many ways with their lives, both as the patron saint of the old Canalian fishermen and of the whole village from the Turks, as folklore indicates. It was to him that the relatives addressed their prayers every time Lake Karla would become wild and spread a thick and impenetrable veil of fog.

The elderly may remember Lake Karla on old school maps or in tracing lessons, when the teachers would ask the students to trace the prefectures of Greece on rice paper blocks. And then, we would tear out the boundaries from the Atlases and, using a pencil, we would press the rice paper so heavily that they’d be drawn on the hard sheet underneath. And then, we would sharpen colored pencils, rub the scratches gently with a piece of cotton, and the lakes and seas and plains would pop out before us.
When tracing Thessaly, one had to scratch a lot of green pencil for the Thessalian plain, but also enough blue, to color with the scratchings the big lake Karla, before it was drained. It was the ancient lake Boivis, with an original surface area of 190,000 acres. Around it, small lakeside communities lived together for centuries, creating a great lake culture, with its fishermen and their boats, fishing huts, dense reed beds, and migratory birds. The fishermen of the lakeside villages sought their patron saint. Who could be more appropriate than the ubiquitous and ever-present patron saint of sailors -even freshwater sailors-, St. Nikolas? Next to the waters of Lake Karla, near the village of Kanalia, on a small artificial hillock, a tiny jewel of a church survives: the Byzantine chapel of St. Nikolas. One of the most important ecclesiastic monuments in Thessaly, it’s celebrated on May 20, December 6, and on the day of the Holy Spirit.
In 1962, it was decided to drain the natural water reservoir, a decision that caused radical changes in the region. They dried up the lake’s interior. The microclimate shifted. Boats were withdrawn and fishermen became farmers, as 80,000 acres of arable land were secured. But the chapel has always been there, in place, despite the changes in the lake. It is a church with a great history, as it is part of the buildings of the late Byzantine period, i.e. the end of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th century. The chapel has witnessed a lot and has stood the test of time: from the Byzantine period, the Frankish and Ottoman periods, and even the years of occupation. And within all of this, it has also survived grave earthquakes, especially those of 1955. According to the testimonies of travellers such as Leake, there are ‘a few pieces of ribbed, Doric columns’ inside the church, while in 1815 Philippides refers to the chapel as ‘an old church from the Romans’. According to the usual practice, for its building, preference was given to ‘older marbles, stone blocks and porous stones, carefully carved mainly on their visible face’, materials of antiquity and early Christian sculptural architectural elements coming from a nearby archaeological site.
Over the decades, however, it was found that the impact on the local ecosystem from the draining of the lake was greater than the expected benefits. As for the chapel? A ruined Byzantine church remained next to a dried-up lake. The roof had fallen off and animals had found shelter inside; it had become a mere ruin. Just like the lake which was no longer a lake. In 2010, efforts to restore the lake by pumping water from the Pinios River began. At the same time, as if following the course of the lake, the chapel of St. Nikolas was revived as a listed historical monument. The lake was slowly refilled and the chapel gradually restored until, on May 20, 2015, day of the recollection of the relics of St. Nikolas, Archbishop of Myra, the inauguration took place. The one-room tile-roofed church was reopened, the ‘crutches’, which for years had supported the masonry, were removed and the Byzantine chapel stood upright again, highlighting its unique architectural beauty.
And suddenly, Daniel and a little later, Elias, brought the lake back to its former glory, that of antiquity. Lake Karla was reborn. After these two unprecedented floods of September 2023, the waters not only covered the lake’s entire original surface, but also expanded it twice as much. The chapel withstood the storm as well. It was protected due to its location on elevated ground, and the fact that the entire building rested on a high ledge. Perhaps it was also saved thanks to its patron saints; the church is internally painted with Byzantine and post-Byzantine religious frescoes. And last but not least, very likely thanks to its proper guardian, Father Athanasios Skopianos, priest of the church of the Virgin of Canalia, who constituted the soul of the chapel’s restoration. He is also the author of the book that we consulted, relating to the church.
The chapel’s surrounding area is wonderful, every season and every hour of the day. In the past, it offered its spaciousness for the packing and trading of fruit, while today it is an ideal place for recreational activities. Just next to the lake, under thick shade, with easy access to the beautiful squares of the neighbouring villages -Kanalia, Kerasia, Keramidi, Veneto-, the magnificent chapel awaits its pilgrims.
Birds fly over it, as the fauna of Karla is impressive. The lake is a refuge for over 200 recorded waterfowl species, making the area ideal for birdwatching. So, grab your binoculars and walk along the embankment. Along the 9 km of the riverside path, you will be treated to magnificent images of storks, roseate pelicans, flamingos, herons, cormorants, and many more bird species. And all this, just 25 km away from Volos, either through the Volos-Kanalia provincial road or via Stefanovikio.
And for those who want to get to know the region a bit better, they can learn all about it by visiting the Karla Lake Museum, a cultural space that operates in the building of the old cinema of Kanalia (tel: 24210 58659). Visitors will be able to see the peculiar, almost primitive, way of life of the local inhabitants, the death of the swamp, the draining of the lake, the struggle of the farmers to acquire land. The Exhibition Centre of Natural History and Culture of Lake Karla and Mavrovouni (tel.: 24280 73856) is also worth a visit, giving one the opportunity to learn about the lake’s natural environment (flora, fauna, ecosystems) and its long-standing interaction with the human factor.
In conclusion, a lake that is born, drained, refilled, flooded, reborn, and a chapel by its side that is built, abandoned, restored, inaugurated – all of which underlines the changes of life, the turning of the cycle, the unpredictable yet deterministic, since after the recent floods in Thessaly, Lake Karla claimed and rightfully took back the area that has always belonged to it.
Bibliography
Σκοπιανός Αθανάσιος, Ο Βυζαντινός Ναός Του Αγίου Νικολάου Καναλίων Μαγνησίας και οι τοιχογραφίες του. Κανάλια, 2024