Eupalinos Tunnel

The Eupalinos Tunnel is one of the greatest technical achievements of the 6th century BC and is considered by many as the eighth wonder of antiquity. The accuracy of this construction is impressive even for the contemporary scientists and is a tangible demonstration of the high architectural knowledge that the ancient Greek engineers had.

The “double-edged tunnel”, as it is named by the ancient historian Herodotus, is located two kilometers away from Pythagorion and dates back to the tyranny of Polycrates. Its purpose was to supply with water the ancient town of Samos. It measures 1.80x1.80 meters and has a length of more than one kilometer. This large aqueduct started from the spring of Agiades in the north of Mount Kastro and reached to the south, where it used to be the capital of the island. The water run inside ceramic tubes, which are still preserved and you can see inside the tunnel at a depth of two to nine meters.

This amazing project was constructed by the great architect Eupalinos, in 550 BC. After studies and accurate measurement, he was able to open up the tunnel to within centimeters.

More specifically, workers began digging the tunnel simultaneously from both sides of the mountain and eventually met in the middle at a devation of only 40 centimeters!

The Eupalinos Tunnel had been used until the Late Roman period. In 1882, an attempted to reopen it was made, but had no effect. Eventually, the aqueduct was studied by the German Archaeological Institute in 1972 and nowadays is one of the most important monuments of Samos. It is definitely worth a visit, in order to admire this impressive project of antiquity.