Upon Venetian bridges
Visit some examples of industrial architecture next time you head for the hills
STUNNING examples of Venetian bridges are now easy to find, following the development of a nature trail in the Troodos.
The trail is 17km long and runs from Kaminaria, due west of Troodos Square and the Artemis and the Atalante nature trails, to the deserted village of Vretsia. What distinguishes this trail, as well as its stunning natural beauty and varied plant life, is the series of three bridges from the Venetian period of 1489 to 1571 (Ottoman invasion).
While the nature trail itself is one of some 50 created and overseen by the Forestry department, the bridges have come under the wing of the Antiquities Department and its current project to restore 16 bridges around the country.
It is all part of a wider project to restore, preserve and maintain the enormous cultural heritage available here, but this particular aspect is focusing on stone structures (bridges and mills) that have, to an extent, been overlooked in the past. It is part of a growing interest in and awareness of what has come to be known as ‘industrial archaeology.’ The bridges have been designated as special monuments and are, as such, protected.
The trail has already drawn a steady stream of walkers, although the Forestry Department is now working on promoting the site with an English-language brochure currently being prepared with more background on the history and natural make-up of the walk and the bridges.
Already there are numbered signposts at every stage along the way, detailing the scientific names of the plants along the route in Greek and in English, and with a map of the area. The signposts at the beginning of each stage also bear a telephone number in the event of any emergency, and a caller can easily give details of his or her location by quoting the number of the signpost.
The trail is broken up into six stages, including the equivalent of a cycling race ‘prologue’ in the form of a walk to the official starting point of Kaminaria from the nearby community of Treis Elies.
That village too has a story to tell in the context of the bridge restoration project as it has two bridges (Mylos and Treis Elies) within it. They span both different periods (Venetian and Ottoman) and rivers (The Cold River and the Dragon River) but are surprisingly similar in construction terms and are only around 100 metres apart, as the rivers meet.
The spot, half way between Paphos and Nicosia, was a stopover point for travellers who paused under the shade of the three olive trees there – hence the name Treis Elias, also given to the more recent of the two bridges.
Elaia is also the name given to the first of the bridges the traveller comes to on the Venetian Bridges trail, setting out from Kaminaria. The path follows the course of one of the old camel routes and is also known as Kamilostrata – or Camel Road. Camels were the preferred means of transport in times gone by, and there were even around 90 camels still in Cyprus as recently as 1965. They could carry loads of between 200 and 500 kilos, depending on the necessary distances, and could travel up to 50 kilometres a day.
They would travel in caravans of up to 50 camels and were used to transport copper from the nearby Pera Pedi mines. During the Venetian period, when the route was developed on the ‘copper camel road,’ the mineral was taken to Pera Vasa – between the bridges of Kelefos and Roudia on the trail – for processing before it was taken on to Paphos.
Today the work in restoring the bridges involves the painstaking business of cleaning the stones, replacing any where needed and ensuring the structure. For this, the Antiquities Department had no difficulty in finding the necessary skills, and there would seem to be an abundance of expertise in stone masonry and associated crafts relevant to the bridges, mills and other archaeological demands here in Cyprus.
Those experts put the durability of these three trail bridges down to their original construction. They were built in such a way as to ensure that when a load passed over the bridge, its weight was dissipated to either side, avoiding excessive pressure points.
They were built wide enough to allow herds of animals and carts to cross, as well as pedestrians, and also constructed to a considerable height from the riverbed. That was to avoid the risk of their getting clogged by the branches of nearby trees, which would pose a danger of erosion to the bridge’s surface – the biggest threat to its endurance.
While the section of the trail running from Kelefos to Pera Vasa and beyond to Roudia is still a dirt road, there has been some upgrading of the Kaminaria to Agios Nikolaos and Kelefos, where the bridge is already a regular spot for tourists.
With the ongoing work on the bridges, here and elsewhere around the island, the development of agro-tourism is putting its best foot forward.
