Global InformationKalderimi information
In the former Ottoman countries, a kaldırım (Turkish) or kalderimi (Greek: καλντερίμι or καλντιρίμι; plural kalderimia) is a cobblestone-paved road built for hoofed traffic. Kalderimia are sometimes described as cobbled or paved mule tracks or trails.[1][2]
Kalderimia are typically 2 m wide, though there are reports of widths from 1 to 4.5 m, "so that two fully laden mules could pass each other without much difficulty".[3][4][5]
In Greece, the kalderimi network formerly linked almost every village, hamlet, chapel, and even sheepfold. There were thousands of kilometers of these roads in Crete alone.[3] These roads are paved with flat stones. As they are designed for foot and hoofed traffic, they have steps where necessary, made of stones laid vertically. On flat stretches, they may be unpaved. On slopes, they have retaining walls.[3] Kalderimia use switchbacks on steep ascents, and often have parapets next to steep slopes. When they cross streams, there may be paved fords.[6]
The Skala of Vradeto (Greek: Σκάλα Βραδέτου) is a well-known kalderimi in the Epirus village of Vradeto used to enter the Vikos Gorge.[7]
After many years of neglect, overgrowth, and destruction for modern road-building, there are now some initiatives to map and restore kaldirimia for walking tourism.[3][8]
In Turkish, a kaldırım is more generically a paved street, for example the steep stepped Yüksek Kaldırım in Karaköy, Istanbul.
- ^ Loraine Wilson, The High Mountains of Crete (Cicerone Mountain Guide), ISBN 1852845252, 2010, passim.
- ^ Brian Anderson, Eileen Anderson, Sunflower Guide Lesvos, 2007, passim
- ^ a b c d Rolf Goetz, Crete: The finest coastal and mountain walks, Rother Walking Guide, ISBN 3763348409, p. 16-17
- ^ Edward W. Kase, The Great Isthmus Corridor Route: Explorations of the Phokis-Doris Expedition (Publications in Ancient Studies ; No. 3), 1991, ISBN 0840365381, p. 43
- ^ Rackham, p. 156
- ^ Oliver Rackham, Jennifer Alice Moody, The Making of the Cretan Landscape, ISBN 071903647X, p. 156
- ^ Jack Johnson, ed., World's Great Adventure Treks, p. 45
- ^ "The Friends of the Kalderimi of South Pelion" [1]