The Aesepus Bridge ( tr, Güvercin Köprüsü, "Dove Bridge") was a

late antique Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...

Roman bridge The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and ke ...

over the

Aesepus River The Aesepus River or Aisepos River ( grc, ἡ Αἴσηπος) was a river of Northern Mysia, mentioned by Homer in the ''Iliad'' as flowing past Zeleia, at the foot of Ida; and in another passage as one of the streams that flow from Ida. According ...

(today ''Gönen Çayı'') in the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

region of

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the ...

in modern-day

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is notable for its advanced hollow chamber system which has also been employed in other Roman bridges in the region, such as the

Makestos Bridge The Macestus Bridge or Bridge of Sultançayır was a Roman bridge across the Macestus River ( tr, Simav or ''Susurluk Çayı'') at Balıkesir, in the northwestern part of modern-day Turkey. Its flattened arches, slender piers and the hollow cham ...

. In a field examination carried out in the early 20th century, the four main vaults of the bridge were found in ruins, while nearly all piers and the seven minor arches had still remained intact. Today, the two remaining pier stubs in the riverbed are still extant, while the condition of the rest of the structure is difficult to determine.

Location and dating

The Aesepus Bridge is located in northwestern Turkey, 8 km north of Sariköy, approximately 5.6 km upstream of where the Gönen Çayı flows into the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

, slightly above the point where the narrow river valley opens into the wide estuary plain and a modern bridge carries the highway 200 across the Gönen Çayı. The Aesepus Bridge was part of a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, which in ancient times led across Mysia to the coastal town of

Cyzicus Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...

, and which, having preserved some of its original Roman paving of 13–15 cm deep small round stones, was in the 19th century still the preferred route for travelling between close by

Bandırma Bandırma () is a city in northwestern Turkey with 161,894 inhabitants as of 2021 on the Sea of Marmara. Bandırma is a district of Balıkesir Province. Bandırma is located in the south of the Marmara Sea, in the bay with the same name, and is a ...

(Panderma) and Boghashehr. The earliest investigation on the Aesepus Bridge was published by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

archaeologist Frederick Hasluck in 1906. Based on structural similarities with other hollow chamber bridges in Mysia like the

White Bridge White Bridge ( ) or Bridge of love ( ), is a bridge in Vranje, over the Vranje river, in southeastern Serbia. It is in the old quarters of the city, in the Devet Jugovića Street. It was constructed with white stone and dates from 1844, durin ...

and the Makestos Bridge, as well as Constantine's Bridge, he dates the bridge quartet to the early 4th century AD, in the era of

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

(† 337 AD), when

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

was elevated to the capital of the eastern half of the empire. According to the Italian scholar Galliazzo, though, the characteristic pattern of alternating brick and stone layers in the arch rip (see picture showing the ''arch of eastern abutment'') rather points at an early

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

reconstruction from the second half of the 5th or the first of the 6th century AD, during the reign of

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

. In his view, only the pier foundations and the abutments with their minor arches are unequivocally of Roman origin.

Structure

While all four main arches had collapsed at the time of Hasluck's visit, both ramps and nearly all bridge piers were still standing to full height; only the third pier from the west bank had completely disappeared. The exposed upper part of the piers showed four parallel, slot-like hollow spaces running through the entire length of the structure, which were meant to reduce the load on the vaults. The piers themselves were protected on their up- and downstream side by large cutwaters with pointed caps. Aesepus Bridge 1

The bridge is 5.60 m wide and around 158 m long. Hasluck gave the spans of the third and seventh opening as 12.20 m each. The facing, including breakwaters and hollow chambers, consists of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

blocks, whereas the interior is filled with mortar-bound

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary ...

. The well-preserved paving of the remaining roadway is made of large, occasionally squared stones, and rests on the roof slabs of the hollow chambers. Since the Gönen Çayı at the site passes close to the west slope of the valley, the western abutment is comparatively short. Its two arch vaults, only one of which has a semi-circular shape, were built of brick, with the outer

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s alternating between groups of stone and brick, as it is also typical of the Makestos Bridge. The 58 m long eastern ramp rests on five arches of diminishing size (the overgrown arch 9 has only been conjecturally reconstructed by Hasluck). At the approach are the remains of an

exedra An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...

in brick around which the road forks, an alignment also found at the

Sangarius Bridge The Sangarius Bridge or Bridge of Justinian (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Justinianos Köprüsü'' or ''Beşköprü'') is a late Roman bridge over the river Sakarya River, Sakarya ( la, Sangarius, Greek language, Greek Σαγγάριος) in Anat ...

; an 80 cm high cylindrical stone which may have been used for recording repairs stands next to the exedra.

Gallery

File:Aesepus Bridge. Picture 03.jpg, File:Aesepus Bridge. Picture 04.jpg, File:Aesepus Bridge. Picture 05.jpg,

References

Sources

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External links