Galleries At the end of the 19th century, and during Ottoman Empire’s time, a difficult technical task got completed. This, were the galleries which are part of national railway network and it got constructed by French and German engineers approximately during 1870 and is functional from 1891 up to today. This railway connects Istanbul with Thessaloniki and Thessaloniki with South Eastern Europe as well as the rest of Europe, but also Athens. The railway takes the region out from isolation and connects it with the surrounding cities of Drama and Xanthi. But it also connects the area with the smaller neighbour semi-mountainous villages like Livera , Imera and Kromniko. In this way, mainly an economic boost is succeeded but also there is a boost on the social and cultural activities of the locals. This is the railway station of Livera in 1996. In the area are constructed a total number of thirty elaborate galleries (tunnels) which are made out of carved local stone. The galleries ensure the smooth and quick access of the train from the plains of Macedonia to the lowlands and urban centres of Thrace, all the way up to Istanbul. The photograph is taken from Paul Zepdji, a photographer from Thessaloniki who has Armenian origins. The photograph is from the album "The railways in Northern Greece (1871-1965)" and got published in 2005 from the Museum of Photography "Christos Kalemkeris" of the Municipality of Kalamaria Thessaloniki. The photograph illustrates the difficulty of construction of galleries (tunnels), considering the minimum technical resources of the time.
