A Photo/ Video Blog

Memories of Greek historical moments are mixed with the rare beauty of nature and the turquoise waters of an ancient lake.

These are the emotions one feels and the images that one sees as a visitor of Skra, the waterfalls and the famous “emerald lake”.

Skra is only 4 km away from the borders with FYROM and it spreads on the Northeast slopes of Paiko at an altitude of 520m. Its previous name was Lioumnitsa, while the current one is due to the proximal top Skra di Legken that during the First World War was the place of the homonymous battle field (Skra – Ravine). The battle was a decisive one for the course of the Greek State and the First World War.

With its characteristic proud old plane tree in the center of the village, Skra is considered to be a place of celebration in honor of the homonym battle, while every year on 17th of May a memorial ceremony for the officers and the soldiers of that battles belonging to the so called Greek Division of Crete and Archipelago is held at the Monument to those who died in 1918.

Since May 2002, the Museum of the First World War- Skra Battle has been operating in Skra, housed in a specially constructed area. The Museum exhibition presents relics, photos and historic documents from the Macedonian battles of the First World War, as well as from the victorious Skra battle. The well known victorious battle took place on May 17, 1918.

Near this settlement, the visitor faces a small miracle of nature. Through a wonderful path one can reach an area with rich vegetation, where one meets the first waterfall of Skra, at the root of which there is a small cave with stalactites. A little further on the path, the visitor is stunned by the beauty of the small “Blue Lake” or “Emerald Lake”, which owes its aquamarine emerald color of the water to the calcified and fossilized organisms of its bottom. Continuing on the path, the vegetation thickens and the ground is steeper. Here, one can see the second waterfall of Skra that falls with thunder over the rocks creating a stunning natural landscape.