One of the oldest arch bridges still in use is the Arkadiko Bridge or Kazarma Bridge, located near the modern road from Tiryns to Epidauros on the Peloponnese, Greece. It is presumed to have been built during the Greek Bronze Age, or around 1,300 BC, which makes it one of the oldest bridges still in existence and use today.

The arch bridge was built using Cyclopean masonry, with limestone boulders, smaller stones, and little pieces of tile assembled tightly together without mortar. It is 22 meters long, 5.6 meters wide, and 4 meters tall. The bridge leaves a small culvert opening, about one meters wide, at its base. The width of the roadway on the top is about 2.5 meters, allowing a modern car to comfortably pass over, although the approach to the bridge is now covered with vegetation. Due to the bridge’s style and the specific way it was built, archeologists believe it was originally meant for use by horse-drawn chariots.

Photo: Davide Mauro/Wikimedia Commons