Worlds oldest bridge

[Imperial Dave]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1892270/oldest-bridge-greece-arkadiko-bridge-peloponnese?gaa_at=la&gaa_n=ARTJ-U-rqx2H5K2IwS5NAa_kSRJy-C4LPk6VJW1qu7k6LbPfKteIoldMi6HpT9XL7r0%3D&gaa_ts=6630c767&utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=discover&utm_campaign=CCwqGQgwKhAIACoHCAow9935CjCe0eYCMKy7pQIw4MLXAg&utm_content=bullets&gaa_sig=mNxOz0BaP5L91a0y-aJTMw8Q-1ltuN7RMoT8Vjx_YN-TgYwMglw24IM1NKAQ-nchJNQRmGE0PGAXouzLPVvD_w%3D%3D

And still no pot holes...

[DBS]

Hmmm, "over 5000 years old" equates to circa 3000 BC. A date not normally associated with Mycenaean culture...

God bless journalism 😇

[Adrian Nayler]

The bridge at Arkadiko is more usually dated, from the Cyclopean masonry technique used in its construction, to the 'Mycenaean' Late Helladic (III) 1300-1190 BCE period, and more specifically to about 1,200 BCE. Thus it is perhaps 'only' about 3,200 years old. Still, a venerable survivor by anyone's standards.

It is now bypassed by a modern (minor) road bridge and there is a small layby for parking nearby. You are indeed able to walk across it, access both sides of it from the (seasonal) stream bed it spans and, if you are small enough (and you do need to be quite small) crawl through its corbeled arch. Interestingly, there are remnants of the stone paving that the Mycenaean road bed was originally surfaced with nearby. To suggest that it is used everyday might be a bit of a stretch. It is certainly available to be used by pedestrians every day though modern hikers and interested visitors will need to make a small but special effort to do so!

Though I have not walked this particular Mycenaean route I have been fortunate to walk the Mycenaean 'chariot road' from Berbati to Mycenae along which another similar bridge survives in situ. Walking cross-country along this road (in modern English terms, a bridleway) and approaching the site of Mycenae on foot is certainly a very different experience to arriving by tourist coach!

Adrian.