Çobandede Bridge (, also called Çoban Bridge) is a historical bridge in

Erzurum Province Erzurum Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its area is 25,006 km2, and its population is 749,754 (2022). The capital of the province is the city of Erzurum. It is the fourth lar ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Location

The bridge is at to the east of Köprüköy

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

(district) of

. Köprüköy, literally "bridge Ville" is named after the bridge. The bridge is situated at the point where two tributaries of the

Aras River The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...

meet. It is on the road from

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

Muş Muş (; ; ) is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the seat of Muş Province and Muş District.İl Beled ...

. Currently, Çobandede Bridge is out of service and the Turkish state highway is over a parallel bridge about east of Çobandede Bridge.

History

In 1865 a priest, Archimandrite Timeteos, copied an inscription, in Armenian that was on the bridge. It read "this bridge, founded by the Armenians, was repaired by the Magistros under the auspices of the monastery of Sourb Astvatzatzin and the castle of Darun in the year 609" (609 is equivalent to the year 1160). In 1904, Kajberuny saw this inscription, and two others in Arabic, saying that they were located above the arches on the eastern side of the bridge. Neither the Armenian inscription nor the two Arabic inscriptions currently survive on the bridge. A fourth inscription, not seen by Kajberuny, in Arabic, still survives but in a worn and damaged condition. It is located on the bridge's parapet. About the "Magistros" mentioned in the inscription, Kortoshian writes that it may be the family title used by descendants of

Grigor Magistros Grigor Magistros (; "Gregory the ''magistros''"; ca. 990–1058) was an Armenians, Armenian prince, Linguistics, linguist, scholar and public functionary. A layman of the princely Pahlavuni family that claimed descent from the dynasty establis ...

.Raffi Kortoshian,
What is Concealed in the Turkish Information Boards
, Vardzqporq, volume 4, 2011, pages 1-12. He was buried in Sourb Astvatzatzin monastery close to nearby

Pasinler Pasinler or Basean (; ; ka, ბასიანი, tr; ; ; formerly Hasankale and Hesenqele 'the fortress of Hasan'), is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,134 km2, and its population is 27,055 (2022). It ...

(Hasankale); Darun (Daroynk) has been identified as either Hasankale or Dogubayazit. Turkish researchers write it was constructed during the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

occupation of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

towards the end of the 13th century.Historical Bridges page by Prof. Gülsüm Tanyeli
/ref> According to one view, up to 1271 flood, there was an ancient bridge near Çobandede Bridge. Thus Çobandedde Bridge was constructed later than 1271. In a barely readable part of the inscription, there is a date that corresponds to 1289. This date is in accordance with the name of the bridge. Because towards the conclusion of the 13th century,

Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

authority in Anatolia was represented by Mongol general

Chupan Amir Chūpān (; died October/November 1327), also spelt Choban or Coban, was a Chupanids, Chupanid noble of the Ilkhanate, and nominal general of the Mongol Empire. He was ennobled by Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty), Emperor Taiding of Yuan as Duke ...

(called ''Emir Çoban'' in Turkish). The bridge was restored in 1727, and again in 1872. In 1946-48 it was additionally restored by the

Turkish army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

Technical details

The building material is cut stone with three different colors (black, red and, gray). The total length of the bridge is . In the original design, the bridge had seven arches. But one of the arches is now buried underground. Currently the width of the six remaining arches are; , , , , and .Fügen İlter: ''Osmanlılara kadar Anadolu Türk Köprüleri'', Karayolları Yayınları, pp.191-192 There are eight chambers in the abutments.

References

{{Bridges in Turkey Arch bridges in Turkey Bridges completed in the 13th century Buildings and structures in Erzurum Province