The Rio–Antirrio Bridge (Greek: Γέφυρα Ρίου–Αντιρρίου), officially the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge, is one of the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges and longest of the fully suspended type. It crosses the Rion Strait between the Gulf of Corinth and Gulf of Patras, linking the town of Rio on the Peloponnese peninsula to Antirrio on mainland Greece by road. It opened one day before the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, on 12 August 2004, and was used to transport the Olympic flame.
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👉 Rio–Antirrio bridge in the context of Antirrio
Antirrio (Greek: Αντίρριο, pronounced [aˈndirio], Latin: Antirrhium) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 50.794 km.
It is situated on the north side of the narrow (2.4 km) Strait of Rio, which separates the Gulf of Patras in the west from the Gulf of Corinth in the east. Since August 2004 the Rio–Antirrio bridge connects northwestern Greece with the Peloponnese. The name Antirrio means "opposite Rio".
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Rio–Antirrio bridge in the context of Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania (Greek: Αιτωλοακαρνανία, Aitoloakarnanía, Greek pronunciation: [etolo.akarnaˈni.a]) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the historical regions of Aetolia and Acarnania, it is the country's largest regional unit. Its capital is Missolonghi for historical reasons, with its biggest city and economic centre at Agrinio. The area is now connected with the Peloponnese peninsula via the Rio-Antirio Bridge. The surrounding regional units take in Arta in Epirus, a narrow length bordering Karditsa of Thessaly, Evrytania to the northeast, and Phocis to the east.
Rio–Antirrio bridge in the context of Corinthian Gulf
The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (Greek: Κορινθιακός Κόλπος, romanized: Korinthiakós Kólpos, Greek pronunciation: [koɾinθiaˈkos ˈkolpos]) is an inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and in the west by the Rion Strait which widens into the shorter Gulf of Patras (part of the Ionian Sea) and whose narrowest point has been crossed since 2004 by the Rio–Antirrio bridge. The gulf is bordered by the large administrative divisions (regional units): Aetolia-Acarnania and Phocis in the north, Boeotia in the northeast, Attica in the east, Corinthia in the southeast and south and Achaea in the southwest. The tectonic movement across the gulf is comparable to parts of Iceland and Turkey, growing by 10 mm (0.39 in) per year.
In the Middle Ages, the gulf was known as the Gulf of Lepanto (the Italian form of Naupactus).
Rio–Antirrio bridge in the context of A5 motorway (Greece)
The A5 motorway, also known as the Ionia Odos (Greek: Ιόνια Οδός), is a controlled-access highway in western Greece, which starts at Ioannina and it follows the western coastline of mainland Greece down to the Gulf of Corinth. At Rio, it crosses the gulf via the Rio–Antirrio bridge and is connected with the A8 at an interchange near Patras. The Patras - Pyrgos section of the motorway is now considered part of the A8 motorway and will eventually extend to Tsakona near Kalamata. Another extension north to Kakavia at the border with Albania, is in the planning stage.
In August 2017, the last section under construction (Perdika-Ioannina) was completed and delivered to traffic by the Greek Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Network, making Ionia Odos a fully operational motorway. It is the second major north–south road connection after the A1 motorway and is also part of the trans-balkanic Adriatic–Ionian motorway and the European routes E55 and E951.