Monday, February 16, 2009

The stone bridges of Epirus

Epirus has hundreds of impressive stone bridges, which are reminders of the past. They bring memories of the travellers who were travelling to other parts of Greece and Europe.
They are also symbols of man's struggle to overcome the problems that nature puts in front of him.
Here are some photos and comments of these bridges.




The Bridge of Arta
It is a stone bridge that crosses the Arachthos river near the city of Arta.The bridge became famous from the legentary folk ballad, which is at the core about human sacrifice. The story of the building of that bridge is a romantic story.
In the past the best engineer was called to built the bridge with forty workers. Every morning they built the bridge but every night the bridge fell down. This happened day after day, until the engineer could not stand this any longer. He wanted to give up his job. As he was about to quit, a bird came and spoke to him in human voice. The bird said "if you want the bridge to stand, you must built your wife alive in it. The engineer said "O.K" with a heavy heart. So he pretended that his ring has fallen into the river. His wife said she would go into the river and find it. She did that and when she was in the water, the egineer ordered his workers to throw concrete over his wife and built her in. That way the brdge was built and up today it has never fallen down.


A student of the third grade of Perama High School, was inspired by the myth about the sacrifice of the engineer's wife and painted this work.




The bridge of Kaberaga


It spans the Zagorisios river. It is a single arched bridge and its name is taken from Kaber-Aga, who gave the money to built it.



The bridge of Kleidonia

It is a traditional bridge at Voidomatis river near the village of Kleidonia.





The bridge of Konitsa
It is built over the river Aoos. This single- arched bridge is 20 m high and 40 m long and was built in 1870 by the craftman Ziogas Frontzos, using money donated by all villagers, both Cristians and Muslims.







The brdge of Plaka
It is the widwst stone-made bridge of Epirus and probably of Greece. With its impressive 40-meters-wide arch it stands some 18 to 20 meters above the waters of Arachthos river. It also has two small auxiliary 6-meters arches on its two sides. The bridge's conrtruction was completed in 1866 but before that it had collapsed twicw during the bulding works, in 1860 and 1863. It stands on the border-line of Prefectures of Arta and Ioannina.



The Bridge of Plakidas or Kalogeriko

It is a great three-arched dridge, that impresses one with its symmetry. It is near the village Kipi and joins Vico's banks. It was built in 1814 by Serafim, a monk in the monastery of Profitis Ilias in Vitsa, under whom, it tooks the name. It was reconstructed in 1865 by Alexis Plakidas.

The bridge og Vovousa
It is a single arched bridge, built in 1743. It joins the riverbanks of Aoos river and makes communication easier for the people. The bridge is a starting point for kayak-lovers .







The bridge of Theogefyro


Close to Lithino village one can find the natural bridge over Kalamas river. It is about 20 meters high.




The Noutsou Bridge or Kokorou


It was built in 1750 by Noutsos Kontodimos. It is a big single-arched bridge over Vikos river. It is also named Kokorou after the owner of a nearby mill, who took care of repare.


A Group of Students of the High School of Perama have worked on The subject "The stone Bridges Of Epirus"