Papastathis Bridge, Stone arch bridge in Ioannina, Greece
The Papastathis Bridge is a four-arched stone bridge over the Arachthos between Driskos and Anatoliki. Its deck is 85 m long and 2.7 m wide; the arches span 23.7 m, 12 m, 10 m and 4.2 m, rising 8.7 m, 4.8 m, 5.6 m and 2.4 m.
The bridge was built in 1746 by Agapios, abbot of Viliza Monastery, who spent 175 Venetian florins on it. Twice that sum was needed to finish the work, and the villagers of the surrounding villages collected it with difficulty. The crossing was urgent: the Arachthos drowned three to four people there every year.
Local legend says that when the Arachthos swells and floods at night, you can hear the voices of a man and a rooster that were built into the bridge's foundations. The story is tied to the bridge's construction and is told in the villages around Driskos and Anatoliki.
The bridge stands between Driskos and Anatoliki, crossing the Arachthos in the Ioannina region of Epirus. Its deck is 85 m long and only 2.70 m wide, so visitors cross on foot. The four arches vary in span, from 23.70 m down to 4.20 m.
During World War II in 1942, German forces attempted to destroy it by bombing the central arch, but the structure survived the assault intact. The resilience of the construction is now viewed as a testament to its solid engineering.
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