Gorgopotamos (river)
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The Gorgopotamos (, "the rushing river") is a river in the southern part of
Phthiotis Phthiotis (, ''Fthiótida'' ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece. The capital is the city of La ...
, Central Greece,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
not far from the border with
Phocis Phocis (; ; ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gu ...
. The river is host to the ''Ellinopygosteos'' fish ''( Pungitius hellenicus)''. According to ancient philosopher Herodotos, the river was called Dyras in ancient times.


Geography

The Gorgopotamos rises 4 km north of Pavliani and west of
Koumaritsi Koumaritsi () is a village on Mount Oeta in Phthiotis, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northw ...
in the
Oiti Mount Oeta (; , polytonic , ''Oiti'', also transcribed as ''Oite'') is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is high. Since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of the rest has ...
mountains with two streams. The river flows through a steep forested valley. It passes under OSE's
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
-
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
railway line and through the village
Gorgopotamos Gorgopotamos () is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 157.300 km2. It is l ...
, where it enters the plains. It empties into the river
Spercheios The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its Latinization of names, Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in Central Greece (geographic region), central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped a ...
near Ydromilos, 5 km southwest of
Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...
.


History

The railway bridge over the river is famous for one of the biggest sabotage acts of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, "
Operation Harling Operation Harling, also known as the Battle of Gorgopotamos () in Greece, was a World War II mission by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), in cooperation with the Greek Resistance groups EDES and ELAS, which destroyed the heavily gu ...
". Operation Harling was a British mission and 150 Greek partisans blew it up on 25 November 1942, cutting off
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
supplies being transported between
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
(mostly headed for
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
). The blast destroyed two of the six piers of the bridge. The IV Ferrovieri Battalion, of the Ferrovieri Engineer Regiment of the
Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...
repaired the bridge in 19 days, replacing the destroyed piers with the still existing steel girders. The area around the bridge is now a monument. The engineer who designed and built the original bridge was an Italian immigrant and Gorgopotamos local by the name of Agostino Tacconi, who used clever engineering at the time utilising unique parts making the bridge difficult to reconstruct in a timely manner. The British forces found this to be ideal as the occupation forces could not easily reconstruct it.


References

{{Reflist


See also

*
List of rivers in Greece This is a list of rivers that are at least partially in Greece. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. The confluence is given in parentheses. For an a ...
*
Gorgopotamos Gorgopotamos () is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 157.300 km2. It is l ...
Landforms of Phthiotis Rivers of Greece Rivers of Central Greece Drainage basins of the Aegean Sea