Old Bridge Epiros

This stone bridge, likely built in the early 1600s, spans the Arahthos River in four elegant arches. (The windows in the pedestals are for water overflow if the river runs high.) Between 1881 and 1912, Arta was the northern edge of independent Greece; the high point of the bridge marked the border with the Ottoman Empire. The bridge has been rebuilt numerous times, probably since the Roman era. A Byzantine folk song tells of an architect's wife interred in the foundations in order to break a curse that caused it to crumble – a theme echoed in other Balkan folk tales.