principal stream of Thessaly, Greece, rising in the Óros (mountains) Lákmos of the Pindus Mountains just east of Métsovon in the nomós (department) of Tríkala; it is navigable in its lower course. In prehistoric times the Piniós formed a great lake before it broke through the Vale of Tempe. It now flows 127 mi (205 km) through the mountains and plains of Thessaly, thrusting itself through the Vale of Tempe between the Olympus and Ossa massifs and debouching at the entrance to the Thermaïkós Kólpos (gulf) of the western Aegean Sea. Entering the western Thessalian plain, it receives the Enipévs and immediately winds through the saddle of low hills between the Zarkou Mountains on the north and the Mavrovoúni outliers that divide the Thessalian plain into two distinct parts. Other tributaries include the Lithaíos and the Titarísios.