The river of Akaki along with the one of Peristerona, completes two parts of the big Serrachis river that runs through the west Nicosia and flows into the gulf of Morfou.
It has its sources in the north slopes of the Troodos mountains, from the area of the Palaichori village and the west slopes of the Kampi Farmaka village.
One of the dozen small torrents that has its sources in Kampi fills the dam of Palaichori and then joins with others, outside the Apliki village, where the river of Akaki is formed.
After that, on the west of Kalo Chorio it joins the river that has its sources in Farmaka and from there, in a small distance it fills the dam of Akaki-Klirou, that has a capacity of 2 million cubic metres. The rest 12 million cubic metres that form the annual dynamics of the river enrich the aquifers of the villages of Agios Ioannis and Menoiko.
When the river passes from the west of Akaki, it initially ‘disappears’. A huge aquifer absorbs the whole river. When it is not ‘thirsty’ anymore, it lets the river continue its journey and join the river of Peristerona and they both then form the river of Serrachis.
The river has created a valley that exceeds 4 kilometres in width and the settlers of the surrounding villages planted it mainly with olive trees, from the point of the bridge that takes you to Agia Marina Xyliatou until its junction with the river of Peristerona.
Long ago, a great ecological damage took place in the valley and the river due to the dozens of pigsties that had been built in it. There are still a few today, but there is no problem with their wastes since some very correct measures have been taken.
The riverbed, that at some points exceeds 80 metres in width, as well as the valley it created, can offer a lot to the visitor. Dare to walk along the river’s shores and study the local flora and fauna that adapted completely to the river and they “coexist” harmonically for thousands of years.
