You would believe it if someone told you that a few kilometers outside of Sparta for 2,000 years now stands a stone arched bridge that was once crossed by ancient armored Spartan warriors.
Legend has it that Paris crossed this bridge when he started going to Troy to claim the Beautiful Helen.
But let us learn more about this unknown (another) treasure of our homeland.
Fifteen kilometers south of Sparta, near the foot of Taygetos, is the town of Xirokambio, a beautiful town “drowned in green”.
At the exit of the gorge of Anakolos, from which the river Erasinos (Rasina) flows, the visitor is dazzled in front of the bridge that connects the 2 banks. This is a unique bridge of unique construction, 2,000 years old, which is normally used until today, over the ancient road Sparta – Kardamili.
It is said to be the oldest functioning bridge in Europe. It was built by the Spartans, at the time when Augustus (late 1st century BC) granted them Kardamili as a port.
It was named by the Christians “Elliniko”, a work of the ancient Greeks and by the inhabitants of the surrounding area “Kamara”.
The people combined it with the flight to Troy of the beautiful Helen and the appearance at night of the ghost of the master builder’s wife, who was sacrificed to establish the bridge…
It has a layer of arches, the diameter of its arch is estimated at about 4 m, while the deck, the passageway, is flat.
Its impeccable mechanics are not altered by the supporting structures that have been made over the centuries, especially in its left part during the 17th century.
According to local tradition, 3 myths are mentioned about the bridge:
The 1st legend states that: Paris, son of Priam, passed through this bridge with the beautiful Eleni of Menelaus, heading to the islet of Kranai of Gythio, from where they sailed to Troy.
The 2nd legend states that: the son of Achilles, Pyrros or Neoptolemus, crossed the same bridge coming from Kardamili through Taygetos to go to Sparta to marry the daughter of Menelaus and Helen, Hermione.
The 3rd myth states that: Telemachus crossed this bridge coming from Pylos, the kingdom of Nestor to go to Sparta to ask Menelaus about Odysseus’ father.
As the stream finds its way between the rocks and the walls that stop its momentum, it forms water curtains and corridors: a spectacle that is in great glory during the winter and spring months.
So visit this ancient bridge with the unique history and live your legend in the amazing Sparta.
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