ALYKES (SALT WORKS) AT KITROS – PIERIA - GREECE
Alykes Kitrous is a place where salt is produced. They are actually 5 km east of Kitros, close to the beach as well as Atherada – an ancient town where the port of Pydna was supposed to be. The total area is almost 10 km² of which 1.5 km² is covered by the lagoon, which is considered to be a ''warm-up'' place. The rest area mainly consists of salt pans. Annual production reaches 30,000-40,000 tons of salt. Sand dunes are another special feature of the Kitros lagoon which constitutes the widest and largest such area in northern Greece.
In the area close to the salt works there is a wetland of international interest, the Aliakmonas Delta, with rare birds and plants. Up to 1989 we could find there the rare black-headed gulls (Larus Melanocephalus), the number of which has unfortunately decreased. One of the rare plants found in the lagoon today is the sea daffodil (Pancratium Maritimum).
With the EU Directive 92/43, Alykes Kitrous joined the European Ecological Network ''Natura 2000'' under the code GR 1250004.