Alpheus river is 112 km. long and it is the largest river in the Peloponnese. It flows from the Arcadia and on its way, it unites with the streams as Lousios, Elissonas and Tritonas. At Tripotama location it unites with Erymanthos and Ladonas and it thus becomes a very wide river. It passes from the area of ancient Olympia and ends up in the Ionian Sea, south of the Gulf of Kyparissia. Its main tributary is Enipeas (aka Lestinitsa), which also irrigates part of the valley east of Pyrgos.
In antiquity Alpheus was worshiped as a god. To honor him, people sacrificed bulls and built two altars in Olympia. The anthropomorphic representation of Alpheus can be seen on the east pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia.
There are several stone bridges “decorating” the landscape of lush vegetation of the banks of the river. The most famous one is located in Karytaina. For those who love sports, there are organized missions of rafting and canoe-kayaking at Alpheus River.
