Bridge  
 

Akraio Bridge 

In the Pomak villages of Xanthi, in the mountainous region of Rhodope, a local variation of the traditional song about the bridge of Arta is widespread. This song is entitled "The Three Brothers" (Trimina Bratier). It refers to the legend particularly known among the Balkan peoples, according to which the sacrifice of a woman was required for creating the foundations of a stone bridge.  

In the different variations, found in a number of Pomak settlements of mountainous Xanthi (in Satres, Oraio, Dimario, Myki), the craftsmen who build the bridge are three brothers. During the construction they decide, in order to solidify the bridge, to sacrifice the wife of one of them, who in most versions is called Yurké. Of particular interest is a version of this traditional song from Oraio of Xanthi. In this version, as they embed Yurké in the foundations, they leave out her right arm and left breast, so that she can breastfeed her infant.   

 

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