The bridge and the legend Photo

Photographer’s Note

The most famous landmark of Arta is its legendary stone bridge which was built in 1602 and it spans with its beautiful arches the width of Arachthos river. The Arta bridge is a visual delight and for centuries it has acquired mythical proportions with numerous legends taking shape around its carefully placed stones. The most famous legend is the one that details the bridge's creation as an improbable feat in the midst of an endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding.
An entire epic poem is dedicated to this legend, and it describes in lyrical terms how the masons built the structure all day long just to find that it collapsed overnight. With this process repeating itself for a long time to the desperation of the masons, only divine intervention could save the bridge, and it came in the form of a message from a bird. The building of the bridge according to the message required the personal sacrifice of the foreman's beautiful wife. The poem revolves around the foreman's conflict between his own tragic personal loss, and the resulting common good. The conflict resolves itself with the tragic death of the young wife as she unknowingly becomes victim for the benefit of the greater society. This epic poem has survived through oral tradition for centuries.
The term "the bridge of Arta" was coined after the legend and it is used widely in modern Greek to describe any endless process that tends to repeat itself in pointless cycles.
During 1881-1912 the bridge was the border between Greece and Otoman empire.
Technical characteristics:
Height 12.50 m, total length 145 m, span lengths 24.00 m - 15.80 m - 15.40 m - 15.20 m, number of spans 4.
See the workshop for an image taken from a different POV.

© 2007 - All rights reserved. The photos taken by photographer Athanasios Benisis are registered and copyrighted. Use in any form (web, paper publication, public exposure, etc.) is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the photographer. To contact with photographer please use his intro page Hellas on TrekEarth.

Clementi, gbeli, Paolo, dip, syd1946, Xalkida, manada, danos, pboehringer, dyucelten, vinicio, thiv56, Benedict, lilimih33, Didi, PIERRE-HENRI-AU, cam has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Clementi (44457) 2007-06-25 8:17

Ciao Athanasios,
fantastica composizone notturna per questo antico ponte .
Ottima gestione della luce e bei colori .
Giorgio

gbeli (2026) 2007-06-25 9:01

Σαράντα πέντε μάστοροι κι εξήντα μαθητάδες
γιοφύριν εθεμέλιωναν στης Aρτας το ποτάμι.
Ολημερίς το χτίζανε, το βράδυ εγκρεμιζόταν.
Μοιρολογούν οι μάστοροι και κλαιν' οι μαθητάδες:
«Αλίμονο στους κόπους μας, κρίμα στις δούλεψές μας,
ολημερίς να χτίζουμε, το βράδυ να γκρεμιέται».

Paolo (40713) 2007-06-25 9:05

Hi Athanasiosi, beautiful night view with a silver light on the old stone bridge.
good quality, exsposure and good POV too,
thanks, ciao

dip (12660) 2007-06-25 9:07

Geia sou Athanasie,
omorfi sunthesi me kalo kadrarisma,
o katamauros ouranos mporei na min einai oti to kalutero,omos denei me tin polu omorfa fotisneni gefura.
Xairetismous.
Dimitris.

ifanik (20542) 2007-06-25 9:23

Gia soy Thanash
Entypwsiako to pio gnwsto Ellhniko gefyri thn nyxta
H fotografia soy poly kalh me to fws na grafei opws prepei epanw sto gefyri
sygxarthria

gilou530 (35350) 2007-06-25 16:37

salut athanasios
trés scan les couleurs sont magnifiques la perspective du pont est bien trouvé, bravo
amitiés
gilbert

syd1946 (17913) 2007-06-25 18:09

Γεια χαρα Θανάση,
Πολυ ωραια νυχτερινη φωτογραφια,καθαρα νυχτερινη θα ελεγα.Το καταμαυρο μπακραουντ αναδυκνειει τελεια το φωτισμο στην φημισμενη γεφυρα.Κατατοπιστικο και το σημειωμα.Μπραβο!

Θωμάς

Xalkida (11740) 2007-06-26 1:44

Καλημέρα

Ίσως να σου τσίμπησε λιγάκι στο φως, αλλά είναι αρκετά εντυπωσιακή δουλειά.

manada (6237) 2007-06-26 4:07

Geia sou Athanasio
nice perspective and wonderful nightshot for this legendary bridge. Interesting note too.
Kalimera
Freddy

hatti52 (12654) 2007-06-26 5:07

Hi Athanasios
Nice presntation of beautiful bridge with very nice light control
well done
cheers

danos (32708) 2007-06-26 8:17

Θανάση γειά σου,
μου αρέσει η νυκτερινή φωτογράφηση του γεφυριού της Άρτας.Οι λεπτομέρειες και τα φώτα είναι εξαιρετικά και γενικά η όλη δομή της φωτογραφίας είναι πολύ καλή.Το μαύρο φόντο αναδυκνύει το γεφύρι.Το σημείωμά σου ενημερωτικό για την ιστορία του γεφυριού. Πολύ καλή.
Σε χαιρετώ,Δάνος

xkolba (3188) 2007-06-26 10:39

Hello Athanasios,
Excellent night shot of this bridge. I like composition with reflections on water. Very good contrast between bright architecture and entirely black background.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Maciek

vedra (0) 2007-06-29 3:02

Hi Athanasios,
Well captured night scene on a clear summer evening. The old bridge is beautifully illuminated, while the lamps provide very warm light. Judging by their poles, it seems that the shot is slighlty hanging clockwise.
Vedrana

pboehringer (770) 2007-06-29 10:25

I loce the image and the note attached to it. Although a pretty sad element that it requires the sacrifice of a woman (again a woman, why always the female element?) to get something done. Interesting to see how that got incorporated into the cultural element as a saying.
Magnificent, well balance light conditions.

izmirli (3219) 2007-07-31 5:41

kalimera dear athanasios
beautiful night and bridge.wonderful lights and reflections.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

fragis (689) 2007-08-01 22:29

Geia sou Athanasie
Poly omorfi foto
Bravo
Nasai kala
Fragiskos

Bruno40 (6440) 2007-08-07 23:14

Hello Athanasios
Very good POV, composition and exposure. good work!
The sacan quality is also good. How many dpi did you use?
cheers
Jorge

dyucelten (312) 2007-08-10 0:55

Hi Athanasios,
This is really a nice night-shot. In night shots it is diffucult to have a good sharpness and exposure. Congratulations...
P.S. I have a very similar photo. Not the same bridge of course, but I was amazed with the similarities. Mine doesn't have a good sharpness, but the architecture is very similar.
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Turkey/photo297097.htm

vinicio (22414) 2007-08-14 4:05

Really beautiful and interesting old bridge, and beautiful image of it from you, excellent lights and colors management and right POV in order to have the beautiful perspective of the bridge, well done Athanasios, compliments.
Ciao
Vinicio

thiv56 (1454) 2007-08-16 2:08

Kalimera Athanasios!

Very nice picture of this legendary bridge! TFS.
I only wish that you would avoid the lamp on left...
Keep showing us our beautiful country.

Benedict (7062) 2007-08-17 21:21

hi athanasios,
vivid night capture with golden color display! the lighting is just right to show clarity of all images.
benedict

marietom (32026) 2007-09-07 4:29

Joliment composée, cette image de nuit. Je l'aurais peut-être recadrée en panoramique, toute la partie noire en haut ne sert finalement pas à grand chose.
A+
Marie

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-09-08 1:03

Hi Athanasios, good night shot...
good choice also the size...
well done

ciao!
Valeria

lilimih33 (9874) 2007-09-11 16:50

Hello Athanasios!
Lovely night picture!
Beautiful light and nice colours and sharpness!
Good perspective!
Excellent done!
Best regards!
Lili

steliosk (4784) 2007-11-03 9:32

άλλη μια εκπληκτική σκηνή
η προοπτική αλάνθαστη, εστιάζοντας σωστά το ενδιαφέρον στη μεγάλη καμάρα στο 1/3,

οι αντανακλάσεις με τον δύσκολο αυτο φωτισμό βγήκαν σωστά, οπως επίσης εντυπωσιακή είναι και η λεπτομέρια της γέφυρας,

Συγχαρητήρια για αυτή, της αξίζουν περισσότεροι πόντοι!!!

Φιλικά
Στέλιος

cam (8880) 2008-01-03 19:50

Hi Athanasios
Lost in the dark is your bridge
in a curve
stretching from one shore to the other.
like a luminous snake.

Well done
Have a good 2008

jmdias (19461) 2008-05-02 17:23

athanasius

beautiful image. The contrast between the iluminated bridge and the black night is very good to see. Good shapes, pov and light

hugs

jorge