Uzunköprü Bridge

The Uzunköprü Bridge or Long Bridge meaning (Turkish: Uzun köprü) is a 15th-century Ottoman bridge, which gave its name to the town of Uzunköprü.[1]

Inscription on the bridge about its restoration in 1823.

Uzunköprü Bridge
Uzun köprü (The Long Bridge)
Coordinates	41.2745°N 26.6784°E
Carries	D.550 / E87
Crosses	Ergene River
Locale	Uzunköprü, Edirne, Turkey
Characteristics
Total length	1,392 m (4,567 ft)
Width	6.80 m (22.3 ft)
No. of spans	174
History
Construction start	1426
Construction end	1443
Location

The bridge was built between 1426 and 1443 by head architect Muslihiddin on the orders of Ottoman Sultan Murad II. The ancient stone-built bridge with 174 arches, is 1,392 m (4,567 ft) long and up to 6.80 m (22.3 ft) wide. Some of the arches are pointed and some are round. When it was first completed, the structure was the longest bridge in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey, a title which it held for 530 years until 1973, when it was surpassed by the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. However, Uzunköprü is still the longest stone bridge in Turkey.[2]

The bridge was made to cross the Ergene River, which was a natural barrier for advances into the Balkans for the Ottoman Empire; its old name was Ergene Bridge (Ottoman Turkish: Cisr-i Ergene‎). It is so long in order to cross a low-lying marshy area. The bridge was restored in 1963.[2]

The Edirne–Izmir highway D.550 / E87 still passes over the Uzunköprü Bridge.[2]

World Heritage site status

The bridge is on the UNESCO World Heritage site Tentative List.

The bridge was added in 2015 to the UNESCO World Heritage site Tentative List in the Cultural category.[3]

References

1. Ottoman Architecture, John Freely, page 91, 2011
2. "Uzunköprü, UNESCO'nun en uzun taş köprüsü olacak". Zaman (in Turkish). 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
3. "Uzunköprü UNESCO Dünya Miras Geçici Listesinde" (in Turkish). Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdüürlüğü. Retrieved 8 August 2018.