Κυπριακό Κέντρο Περιβαλλοντικής Έρευνας & Εκπαίδευσης – Κυκπεε
The second exhibit presents the formation of the Akrotiri peninsula. The Akrotiri peninsula was physically created by the connection of a small island with the north part of Limassol city. Therefore, the Akrotiri salt lake is a result of the gradual unification of the surrounding land. The relevant stages of the formation are the following:
- All the natural material carried out form the rivers Kouris (located in the west part of the island) and Garillis (located in the east part of the island) ended up in the north coast of the island.
- Over the time of thousand years, the natural material carried out from the rivers became a solid mass of dry land.
- Due to the huge quantity of this material and by the additional existence of sand and gravel in the same area, new parts of dry land were created.
- After a long time, a new connection between the Kouris river and Akrotiri «Zeugari» was created as well as a connection between the Garillis river and Akrotiri «Gata».
This connection of the small island with the dry parts of land happened 2, 000 years ago and ended up to the enclosing of the Akrotiri Salt Lake.
The geomorphologic phenomenon of the connection of an island with a dry part of land through thousands of years is called tompolo. In this case, the specific geomorphologic phenomenon is called double tompolo, because there is a connection of two sites of the island with the two sites of another island.
Glass Showcase
A three-dimensional full size model of wetlands, birdlife and fauna that can be found in the surrounding area called Fasouri. This exhibit is enclosed in a glass showcase. Specifically, there are lots of reeds and different kinds of ducks. Also, there are different species of birdlife such as pelicans and herons.
