Gorgopotamos Bridge

The Gorgopotamos river gorge lies about 8 kilometres south of Lamia, where the Athens–Thessaloniki railway crosses on a metal viaduct above a steep wooded ravine. The gorge is beautiful in itself, with the Gorgopotamos (meaning "rushing river") cutting through limestone cliffs. But the viaduct is best known for the wartime operation that destroyed its predecessor.

In November 1942, British SOE agents working with Greek resistance fighters blew up the original railway bridge in the first major Allied sabotage operation in occupied Greece. The success of the operation proved that rival Greek resistance movements — communist ELAS and nationalist EDES — could cooperate when necessary, though that cooperation would prove short-lived. A small memorial near the bridge commemorates the event. You need a car to reach the gorge; take the road south from Lamia toward Ipati and follow signs for the gorge.

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On the night of 25 November 1942, ELAS and EDES partisans — communist and nationalist resistance groups who were bitter rivals — set aside their differences long enough to work with British SOE agents and blow up the railway viaduct here. It was the first major act of sabotage in occupied Greece and delayed German supply lines to Rommel's forces in North Africa by several weeks.

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