Chatzeika Bridge

The Chatzeika Bridge is a Byzantine-era arch bridge spanning the Velikas river canyon in Messinia, about a kilometer west of Strefi village. Built during the period of Frankish rule, it once carried travelers between Pylos and the wider Messini region. A few hundred meters southeast, on a hill, stand the remains of Ntepriz castle, whose residents were likely the bridge's main users. Standing on the stone arch today, you sense how such crossings tied isolated communities and fortresses to the roads and markets of the medieval Peloponnese.