Tunnel Of Eupalinos

In 1978, Mrs THC and I visited the Greek island of Samos.  We arrived on a boat out of Piraeus after spending a lovely afternoon and evening on the Aegean.  In those day, the ferries used in the Aegean were mostly repurposed ferries from the North Sea countries which could no longer stand up to the rough seas but were fine for the calm Aegean.

Spending our second night on Samos in the small town of Pythagoreio, named after the famed mathematician born on the island, we decided to splurge, spending $12 on a decent hotel (a big expense for us the time) and having an excellent dinner of freshly caught fish at one of the restaurants by the docks.

It was there we first heard about the water tunnel built under the direction of Eupalinos of Megara (a city on the Greek mainland), described as a wonder by the historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC, the location of which was rediscovered in the 19th century.

The 3,400 foot tunnel runs through and under Mount Kastro, carrying water from a spring to the city of Samos, then the capitol of the island (Pythagoreio was founded in the 19th century on the same site), probably in the 6th century BC.

Because only two men could work on excavating at the same time, the tunnel was started from both ends and through Eupalinos' knowledge of geometry was able to meet.

This animated video below provides an entertaining and instructive guide to how the tunnel, which may have provided water for a thousand years, was designed and constructed.

The ferry taking us back to the mainland arrived in Samos 12 hours behind schedule. We spent much of the time sitting in a crowded ferry terminal filled with cigarette smoke but afraid to leave because no one could give us any accurate information on when the ferry might arrive.  When it finally came into port we noticed the boat had a notable list but it did get us back to Piraeus eventually.  A few days later we departed Athens for Paris on the Magic Bus.