About 75 kilometers from Delphi, on the old road to Naupaktos, when you see a large stone bridge, turn right. Title: The destruction layer.

From now on, the excavation team is to be followed by the water and it is to calculate time by the level of the lake, which keeps going up. A strange siege begins. Archaeologists, when they dig in the dark, have to have luck by their side, at least in the beginning. In the previous year they had it. There is no doubt about the identity of the city, as even the broken tiles of the houses are stamped with its name. Below the destruction layer, the house of the local ruler was buried. The papyri that constituted the city’s formal correspondence were burned, but their traces were preserved on the marks of the ancient seals. We see images of many various seals.

Participants: THE MEMBERS OF THE EXCAVATION TEAM

Thanks to 600 clay seals that were discovered, the archaeologists recovered the political geography of the time, covering all of Greece and reaching as far as Palestine. This is the sole city archive found in the world. We watch shots of the excavation finds: vases, amphoras, coins and statuettes. The archaeologists worked by the new lake and extended their work to new areas. There was a certain haste mixed with anguish, as the civic buildings of Kallipolis, which bear the most important secrets of the ancient city, must have been buried around there.

Participants: THE MEMBERS OF THE EXCAVATION TEAM

We watch again shots from the excavation. We see a mosaic that is to become an exhibit in a museum. Whatever can be saved, is transferred. An archeologist is shown at work.

Participants: A FEMALE ARCHEOLOGIST

Shots from the new lake. Despite the fact that it was summer, the level of the lake was rising very fast. The roads that used to lead to Velouchovo now led to the water. The trapped water rose silently, changing the landscape. We watch scenes from the excavation. The archaeologists, even with the help of equipment, couldn’t reach the hidden remains of Kallipolis and they tried to take care of all sectors of the excavation. A few meters from the water of the lake they had noticed some foundations. Before they disappeared under the water, they performed research and on the very first day they fell on a base. Traces of two statues were visible – one of them was to be discovered a little later. The news circulated fast and the entire village ran to that spot. The first temple had been discovered. We see photographs of the happy peasants around the statue. The film crew was not there on the day of the discovery.

Participants: THE MEMBERS OF THE ARCHAELOGICAL TEAM – THE INHABITANTS OF VELOUCHOVO

Τhe film crew returns three days after the discovery of the temple. The archaeologists have discovered Persephone and were after Demeter. Nevertheless, the second statue has not been found. Maybe it is already underwater. Shots from the lake. Workmen cut down the trees. This is the last phase of the destruction. We see the school plundered. No one was interested in identifying the offenders.

Participants: WORKERS CUTTING DOWN TREES – THE MEMBERS OF THE EXCAVATION TEAM

Τhe issue of ancient Kallipolis returns to the news. We see relevant newspaper clippings. A little later, a team of specialists says that the construction of a protective embankment is technically and financially impossible. The water begins to flood the small temple.

We see people talking and playing cards at Mrs. Ioulia’s coffee house. The operator of the excavator informs them that the machine that dug outside the walls hit upon the destruction layer again.

Participants: INHABITANTS OF VELOUCHOVO - MRS IOULIA

Below the broken tiles, another temple emerged, again a few meters from the water. We watch the archaeologists at work. Below it rest the foundations and the altar of an earlier temple. Kallipolis’ age grew. The excavation is a book that can be read only once – that’s why one has to be very careful. History is read on a series of consecutive destruction layers. Finds that may not be perceived by the human eye may determine the chronological boundaries of an entire era. A charming little bronze horse that was found deep in the foundation debris indicated that another shrine existed in the area before the erection of the two temples. Once upon a time, a city existed there, with continuous habitation from the 8th century B.C. On August 3, 1979, ancient Kallipolis, unknown a year ago, already had a documented history of 14 centuries. As the summer came to its end, more buildings came to light and the city grew. Along with it grew anxiety, as everyone felt the fall and the rainfalls coming close. The water now almost approached the walls. The last building to be discovered was the theater. They managed to clean the skene with its two stone apses. Nevertheless, the seats were never to come to light. Here, centuries were measured in thick layers of earth.

Participants: THE ARCHAELOGISTS

We see shots from the lake that has grown considerably. An elderly inhabitant of Velouchovo, the village’s poet, sings his last song, seated opposite the snowy Giona : "They ordered the evacuation of the village”. We see shots of the deserted school. With the first drops of rain, the level of the lake began to rise and the inhabitants abandoned their village. We see empty houses and shots of the lake again.

Participants: THE VILLAGE'S POET

In December 1979, the road that led to Velouchovo became impracticable by the mud. A speedboat carrying the film crew crossed the lake, in order to reach the excavation, the remains of ancient Kallipolis. The wall was almost covered by water. In a few days, it sunk for good.

At the distance of a kilometer, at the banks of the Mornos river, lies Kallion or Velouchovo, where an excavation under the auspices of the Archaeological Service took place. When the team that shot the documentary arrived there in October 1978, the old stone bridge no longer existed, as it had been blown with dynamite.

We see shots from the worksite, next to the remains of the ancient city. The mud blocked the continuation of the excavation, as the water reached them. It ended up rising by as much as 1 meter a day. The last days of the excavation were in December, in the snappy cold. After a month-long attempt they got to the threshold of an important building, but the excavation did not proceed further, as the water had covered it into two days. We see people (probably peasants) digging. They dug until New Years Day. Remaining at Velouchovo was impossible. The broken arm of a statue was their last find.

Participants: PEASANTS DIGGING

On the first days of 1980 the water covered the walls and the area of the excavation began to sink. The family of the shepherds abandoned its flooded house and moved to another one, a little higher up. We see a small child and then a statue, standing below the trees. Later, we see another statue in nature, below green trees. A third statue,then a fourth and a fifth.

Participants: A CHILD

In May 1980, the ancient city was located 40 meters below the water. We watch general shots of the new face of the area, with the lake dominating the landscape. Pipes spanning hundreds of kilometers, seen though aerial shots, are to transfer water to the capital. Of course, the specialists believe that the new lake of Mornos will not survive for more than 50 years and it will be turned again into a fertile plain,unless the mud that will rest on the bottom, would be continually removed. The new destruction layer is in the process of being created at its bottom. The new destruction layer has already begun to form, even before the water of Mornos has reached Athens. We see general, silent, sources of the capital. Towards the end, the tune of the well-known “Blue Danube” is heard.

Closing titles

We see images from a huge worksite: the plains next to the village. Trucks move, excavators dig. In order for the film crew to reach Velouchovo, they have to cross the shallow waters of the river, at the sound of the waltz “Blue Danube”, playing on the car’s radio

An old farmhouse. The inhabitants of Velouchovo are gathered at Mrs. Ioulia’s coffee house. They look at the crew inquisitively, believing that they are to appear on TV. The song “Let the radio play American songs” plays on the radio. The crew is late, the excavation is over.

Participants: THE INHABITANTS OF VELOUCHOVO

We watch shots of landscapes of the nearby area. On the following day, the crew wanders in the village, in search of beautiful shots. The river Mornos flows in the background, water dominates. A pot is on the stove, a woman spindles, the priest enjoys his coffee, another woman is on her loom. Electricity hasn’t reached Velouchovo. A little girl plays with a puppy. The crew looks for the school of the village, consisting of a single class. We see the teacher and the six students learning how to read. The camera focuses on their faces. The teacher introduces himself and explains that the number of students has been considerably reduced. He also provides some information on the village, which is built next to the remains of ancient Kallipolis and is one of the best villages in the province of Doris. He feels sorry, because the village is being lost. Nevertheless, this is meant to happen for the common good. The new lake will supply water to the capital. Everyone has to help.

Participants: INHABITANTS OF THE VILLAGE – THE VILLAGE'S TEACHER – THE STUDENTS

When the dam would close, the area would turn into a huge lake that would supply water to Athens. The preparation was completed. We watch again shots from life in the village. An elderly woman washes at the trough. The village has long been compensated, as everything, the cypress tree, the walnut tree, the well, has a price. The compensations have been paid and all inhabitants have been ordered to evacuate the village. We watch explosions of dynamite that become more and more frequent, scaring the animals. High up on the mountain, a new road is constructed, from which the last inhabitants of Velouchovo are to leave. Only a family of shepherds is to remain in the village. They own no trees and fields and claim no compensation. They prepare for the winter, as always.

Participants: VILLAGERS – A FAMILY OF SHEPHERDS

Τhe crew is at the deserted site of the excavation. When you don’t know the language of monuments, you cannot read them. We see the low walls of an unknown ancient city, Kallipolis. Kallipolis is only known through a description by Pausanias, who narrated its destruction by the Gauls in 289 B.C. The director searches for the destruction layer. He looks for traces of fire and for broken tiles that covered the city before its destruction and will document its death, as described by Pausanias. Nobody believed that such an important city existed on the mountainous inland of Phokis, therefore the amount of money granted to the excavation was very little, for a fast excavation before the irrevocable loss of the remains at the bottom of the lake.

In Athens, the director has found the first newspaper clippings talking about Kallipolis. "An ancient city is drowining at Mornos ". "Mornos drowns the ancient Kallion ". "The lake will take it all". In the winter of 1979, the director had forgotten Velouchovo and the ancient Kallipolis. In the spring, an archaeologist he knew informed him that he Ministry of Public Works had released a large sum for the continuation of the excavation. The crew returned to Velouchovo in June 1979.

When the crew returned to the village, the landscape had changed. At the bottom of the small plain, the first traces of water were visible. We see an elderly woman looking outside her window and then look at the cloudy sky reflected in the lake. Shots of the lake and flooded houses follow. Beside the lake are the remains of the ancient city.

Participants: AN ELDERLY WOMAN