The Dragon of Lake Prespa

Lake Prespa, shared by Greece, North Macedonia, and Albania, holds a legend older than the Slavic settlements in the region. Ancient Macedonian texts refer to a creature called the "Drakon tou Limnou" — a serpentine beast of enormous size dwelling in the lake's deepest trench.

Fishermen from the island of Agios Achilleios have reported the creature for centuries. In 1957, a fishing boat from Psarades capsized in perfectly calm weather; the three survivors claimed a massive coiling shape had surfaced beneath them. Greek zoologists who surveyed the lake in 2001 documented unusually large displacement ripples in the southern basin with no identifiable source. Local fishermen still leave bread offerings at the water's edge before dawn.