Tunnel of Eupalinos - an ancient feat of engineering magnificence

The Tunnel of Eupalinos is without doubt one of the greatest engineering achievements of ancient times. It is also known as the Eupalinian Aqueduct and is a water tunnel some 1,036 meters (4,000 feet) long, excavated through a mountain on the Greek island of Samos.

The tunnel was dug through solid limestone by two separate teams advancing in a straight line from both ends, using only picks, hammers, and chisels in the 6^th century BC. This would have been a prodigious feat of manual labour in any case, but the incredible thing is when the two sets of tunnellers met they were less that 20 centimetres off line! No one knows for certain how they achieved this since no written records exist. We must bear in mind when the tunnel was dug, the Greeks had no magnetic compass, no surveying instruments, no topographic maps, nor even much written mathematics at their disposal. Simply incredible.

Tunnel of Eupalinos

The Tunnel of Eupalinos provided fresh drinking water to the ancient City of Samos, modern Pythagorio until the 7^th century AD when it seems to have fallen into disuse.

For more information on this amazing achievement please visit Tunnel of Eupalinos.