Euripus Strait
The Euripus Strait (
The strait is subject to strong tidal currents which reverse direction approximately four times a day. Tidal flows are very weak in the Eastern Mediterranean, but the strait is a remarkable exception. Water flow peaks at about 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph; 6.5 kn), either northwards or southwards, and lesser vessels are often incapable of sailing against it. When nearing flow reversal, sailing is even more precarious because of vortex formation.
The Swiss scholar François-Alphonse Forel contributed to an understanding of the enigmatic phenomenon by his study of limnology and the discovery of seiche, where layers of water of differing temperature oscillate in thickness in a confined body of water. But the problem was solved completely only by D. Eginitis, director of the Athens Observatory, who published his conclusions in 1929.[2]
Etymology
From Ancient Greek εὔριπος (eúrīpos, "any strait or narrow sea, where the flux and reflux is violent");[3] from εὖ (eû, "well") + ῥιπή (rhipḗ, “swing or force with which anything is thrown”), from ῥίπτω (rhíptō, "to throw").[4]
Bridges
There are two road bridges across the strait, both at Chalcis. One is the Euripus Bridge or Chalcis Bridge, a two-pylon, cable-suspended bridge built south of town in 1992, and commonly called the "New" or "High" bridge, with a span of about 215 m (705 ft). The strait is 160 m (525 ft) wide at this point. The bridge is accessible via a fork on the main road at Aulis.
The "Old" or "Low" or "Sliding" Bridge lies across midtown, and can slide away to allow shipping traffic. It is located at the narrowest point of the strait, where it is only 38 m (125 ft) wide. It accommodates two lanes of vehicular traffic. It was originally built as a retractable bridge in 1858, replaced by a rotating one in 1896. The existing, originally wooden bridge was built in 1962 and was extensively refurbished in 1998.
History
The Euripus was closed by a
Procopius reports that during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527 to 565 AD) there were two channels in the Euripus, the large original channel and a new narrower cleft to the east of it, so narrow that it could be crossed with a single plank of wood.[9] This later stream was later[when?] widened to make the present shipping channel. At the time when Procopius wrote, the name of the fortress on the Euripus was probably "Euripus," which had become "Egripos" by 1204, and was adopted and slightly altered to "Nigriponte" by the Latins who occupied the place in 1205. (The name has nothing to do with any sort of "Black Bridge," except as a Veronese or Venetian joke, or folk-etymological corruption or re-interpretation in reference to the old bridge across the channel.)
In 1395, Nicola di Martoni came to Negropont during the return from his pilgrimage to Egypt and Palestine.[10] He is clear that the main shipping channel in the Venetian period was on the side of the Boeotian mainland, and mentions the mills on the narrower channel, which he says were sometimes broken in the speed and turbulence of the flow there.
We have further information about the shipping channel and its single wooden bridge from various documents in the archives of the
See also
Notes
- Pre-Greekone (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 482).
- Bibcode:1930C&T....46...66L.
- ^ "Definition of EURIPUS".
- ^ Εὔριπος
- ^ Kambouroglou, Evangelos, Hampik Maroukian, Adamantios Sampson, "Coastal Evolution North and South of Khalkis (Euboea) in the last 5000 Years," Archaeology of Coastal Changes: Proceedings of the First International Symposium "Cities on the Sea—Past and Present" (BAR International Series 404) 1988. Pp. 71–79.
- ^ Herodotus e.a. VII.173 and VIII.66[full citation needed]
- Bibliotheca Historica, 13.47, sections 1–8[full citation needed]
- ^ Strabo IX.2.2[full citation needed]
- On the Buildings, 4.3.16.[full citation needed]
- ^ Leon Legrand, ed. "Relation du pélerinage à Jérusalem de Nicolas de Martoni, notaire italien," Revue de l'Orient Latin 3: (1895) 566–669, (564–55); recently reedited in Studium Biblicum Francescanum, Collectio Major, 42)
- ^ Transcripts in C. Sathas, Mnēmeia Hellēnikēs historias = Documents inédits relatifs à l'histoire de la Grèce au Moyen Âge publiés sous les auspices del la Chambre des députés de Grèce, 2.215 and 3.454, respectively.
References
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, 13.47.
- Kambouroglou, Evangelos, Hampik Maroukian, Adamantios Sampson, "Coastal Evolution North and South of Khalkis (Euboea) in the last 5000 Years," Archaeology of Coastal Changes: Proceedings of the First International Symposium "Cities on the Sea—Past and Present" (BAR International Series 404) 1988. Pp. 71–79.
- Leon Legrand, ed. "Relation du pélerinage à Jérusalem de Nicolas de Martoni, notaire italien," Revue de l'Orient Latin 3: (1895) 566–669, (564–55); recently reedited in Studium Biblicum Francescanum, Collectio Major, 42.),
- Procopius, On the buildings of Justinian, 4.3.16.
External links
- Media related to Euripus Strait at Wikimedia Commons