The Pasha old stone bridge, Grevena, Greece. Built 1690 A.D.

[ThomasBiziouras]

Once a great bridge, that is no longer standing. One of the largest stone bridges that ever existed in Greece, it was one of the many old bridges on Aliakmon, the largest river of Greece. All other bridges of this river were "taken" by its wild waters at various history points. This one lasted until the World War 2 (April 1941), when English and New Zealand's allied armies had to destroy the bridge's pedestals to stop the Germans from passing it. This bridge should be considered as a hero of war. Since then, the following generations failed to restore it. My hope is that future generations will recognize its value and restore it to its glory.

[DanniS]

Hi @ThomasBiziouras,

Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos! I haven't been to this place, but it looks stunning! History is amazing and there is a lot of it in Greece. I've been to a few cities and you can definitely transfer yourself in history. 

Do you live near-by or are you traveling around? 

[ThomasBiziouras]

Thank you @DanniS :)

Agree, Greece is full of history! This bridge was the only one that stood the wildness of Aliakmon river for centuries but had to "fall" as a consequence of war...

I live in this area, my home is just 15 minutes drive from this bridge. At the end of winter the 2 main rivers of Grevena get really "angry". I am sharing a couple of older photos to show our other river, Venetikos, a tributary of Aliakmon, and how it gets. Aliakmon gets even "angrier"! In the photos below you can check the levels of water almost reaching a modern bridge and also another old one:

[DanniS]

Oh that is quite scary @ThomasBiziouras. Has it ever gone over? I know too much rain can cause an overflow of the river. 

[ThomasBiziouras]

As far as I can remember, no @DanniS 

But may be this year will go over because we had very heavy snowfalls in January.

The photo below shows the normal state:

[DanniS]

This is very beautiful @ThomasBiziouras. Can you go kayaking on the river as well when it's silent?  

[ThomasBiziouras]

It is very suitable for rafting @DanniS 

And the route is totally gorgeous! Will post photos later in the spring because I intend to do that tour! :)

[DanniS]

Oh that's probably a lot of fun! @ThomasBiziouras I haven't tried rafting yet! I can't wait to see what it looks like there. 

[MoniDi]

Hey @ThomasBiziouras ,

Your photos look very professional! On one hand it makes me sad that there is no one willing to restore such historical places but on the other it makes me think of the lives of our ancestors and I try to imagine how they did their everyday activities. 

Do you happen to have more photos of ruins in your city?

Just recently I captured a similar bridge near Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria. You can see that nature prevailed and the river is almost dried up. 

Caption: A photo of an old Roman bridge near Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (Local Guide @MoniDi)

[ThomasBiziouras]

Thank you @MoniDi 

I am getting very sad too seeing monuments like those ruined and forgotten... Even wrote a poem about that bridge I posted (poem is in Greek).

Lovely bridge you posted too, reminds me of one we have here that looks like that, but without damages. Every now and then I am organizing groups of volunteers and try to clean old abandoned bridges before nature reclaims them