Kalogeriko or Plakida bridge is an impressive historical monument nestled in Zagori, at the village of Kipi, gashing the splendor of Greece.
Located outside of the village of Kipi, at a distance of 800 meters on the left, down in the stream heading towards Ioannina, is a three-arched stone bridge with a length of about 55 meters and a deck width of more than 3 meters, while on the sides instead of a parapet it has sparse arches.
It is one of the most beautiful, impressive and majestic stone bridges of Zagori region, a wonderful example of folk craftsmanship and high aesthetics, a historic and unique place to admire the perfect harmony between architecture and nature, the majesty of nature and people.
In the same place there was a wooden bridge built by Sotos Roussis spending 14 thousand piastres(i.e currency used during the period of the Greek revolution). In 1814, the abbot of the monastery of Prophet Elias in Vitsa, Seraphim, built a new stone bridge, paying 20 thousand piastres, to serve the ‘monastic’ watermill maintained by the monastery at the region. Thus the new bridge was named ‘Kalogeriko’, after the mill.
In 1865, Adexios and Andreas Plakidas radically repaired it, spending 400 gold coins or 21,000 piastres, and since then it bears their name.
In August 2018, the Service of Modern Monuments and Technical Works of Epirus, Northern Ionian and Western Macedonia proceeded to restore damage to one of the piers of the bridge, from which stones had been detached.
It is a work fully alive, pulsating, as it has been successfully described – and with a soul that when you approach it, it is impossible not to be affected. A masterpiece that carries to this very day unquenchable sparks of the soul of its creators.
The bridge served the movement of the inhabitants of Koukouli in their agricultural, livestock and logging operations. It also served the transition from the villages of Dilofos, Aspraggeloi and Elati to the mill.
A characteristic of the bridge is its three semicircular arches, which give the feeling of light swaying movement to whoever crosses it.
Characteristics of Kalogeriko bridge are its jagged sills and the harmonious arrangement of the three arches. For this reason it was also called “caterpillar in motion”, a description that is fully justified if one observes it while being on one of the surrounding heights.
The stone-paved roadway has short arches at its edges, placed at sparse intervals, thus emphasizing the sense of its light construction.
It is one of the most renowned bridges of Zagori region. It has been declared a historical preserved monument. It is one of the few rickety bridges that still exist, impressing its visitors everywhere with its picturesque beauty.
English (UK) 
Ελληνικά