The river of Ezousa is ranked sixth in terms of length out of all the dams that exist on the island. It has a length of 41 kilometres. Its starting point is found very high on the slopes of Tripylos, east of the Forest station in Stavros tis Psokas. From there, after it covers a distance of 23 kilometres, it runs into the dam of Kannaviou. After it overflows the dam with a capacity of 18 million cubic metres, in continues its journey and runs into the sea in the area of Episkopi, Paphos.
The water never stops flowing into its bed and this is due to the dozens of springs it has. A “spider like” network of confluents enrich it all year round.
On its way it created a very beautiful valley, called the valley of Ezousa or the valley of Agia. This valley is accessible by all means of transport ; cars, bicycles or by foot, after the tenth kilometre from Stavros tis Psokas. From the moment you will cross the river for the first time, a new journey begins within the high forest trees and bushes.
For about 10 kilometres you will pass through forests that will “take you” to Amazonian landscapes. The trees are mostly pines and alders as well as others, and they create a canopy that is dozens of metres away from the forest’s base. Small ivies grow on them, as well as wild rose trees and a series of other “climbing” plants and parasites. On the highest parts, far from the enemies, thousands of birds “sing and fall in love” with a big but pleasant noise. The river flows on the gabbro rocks in the meanwhile, thus completing the image that every visitor of the forests of the island would love to live and discover.
On your way you will see the “tap of Diakos”. It is a natural source that wells out a few dozen metres from the road, on the steep west slope of the valley. The tap up until a few years ago was a stop station for a rest for the travellers. Today it is destroyed and it does not by any means, remind us of the beautiful landscape created by the Department of Forests that we could see and drink water from at the tap of Diakos.
A few kilometres more south, there is a very beautiful picnic area ; the picnic area of Agia. There you can prepare your food and have a rest under the shade and coolness the walnut and cedrus trees will offer you. Unfortunately the walnut tree that “covered” a quarter of the area with its branches, does not exist anymore. The only thing left is the base of the trunk and in its place, 10 small oaks were planted.
After the picnic area, carry on with your journey more south, towards the dam of Kannaviou. Once you reach the dam, the images you will see, will oblige you to stop dozens of times. It would not be an exaggeration if we said that the dam of Kannaviou with the streams that fill it, along with the beautiful pictures it offers us, is one of the most beautiful dams of Cyprus.
If you observe the point where Ezousa enters the dam, at the point where the old bridge still exists and the first part of the valley of Ezousa stops, you will have an amazing view.
The whole journey from the slopes of Tripylos, until the dam of Kannaviou, is covered with a road that “accompanies” the river. During the summer, the road is under maintenance and is cleaned from landslides. However it does not stop from being a forest dirt road. At its greatest part, if you are coming from Tripylos, you will have the vertical slope of the mountain, and the landslide of small and big rocks is an everyday phenomenon. If necessary, you should move them and carry on. There are points where the road will make you shiver, since it is literally part of the riverbed. No matter what means of transport you chose to start and end the journey of 10 kilometres, the impressions you will get will be very good. We encourage you to walk along it, since you will have the optical view as well as all the sound effects from the river and the residents of the valley. Only if someone walks along this journey, will he be able to get 100% out of what it has to offer.
We remind you that the valley of Ezousa is included in the programme “nature 2000” and it is protected by the Department of Forests. You may not cut nor deroot wildflowers.
Watch the video of our visit:
