"The ancient city of Alyzia is located in Western Greece, in the coastline of Akarnania. Close to the city, in the fringes of the Akarnanika Mountains lies a unique example of a hydraulic work of Greek antiquity: a stone dam, equipped with a stone carved lateral spillway. The exact date of its construction is unknown, but because of the city’s prosperity during the 5th century BC, this period is the most probable for the construction of the dam. The body of the dam has two zones. The bottom zone is characterized by more squared blocks, irregularly placed, with smaller blocks filling the gaps between them. In the upper zone, where the slope of the dam becomes softer, stones are uniformly shaped, regularly placed, with smaller gaps, which did not require filling with other, smaller stones. The structure impresses the observer with its technological and constructional overall quality." Source: Koutsoyiannis, D., N. Zarkadoulas, A. N. Angelakis, and G. Tchobanoglous, Urban water management in Ancient Greece: Legacies and lessons, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management - ASCE, 2007

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