![Aji chay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Aji_chay.jpg)
Aji Chy Bridge is a historic bridge in Northwest of
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
on the
Aji Chay river. This bridge was used to connect Tabriz to the Northwestern parts of Iranian Azerbaijan and a major element on route to connect rest of country to Turkey and Russia. In this function it was a major element in connecting East and Western parts of the
Silk road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
. The bridge has been restored and damaged numerous times during the course of history either by natural disasters or during the wars happened in the region. The latest major reconstruction of the bridge was performed in the 19th century during
Abbas Mirza
Abbas Mirza ( fa, عباس میرزا; August 26, 1789October 25, 1833) was a Qajar crown prince of Iran. He developed a reputation as a military commander during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, as ...
's governorship by architect Hadj-Seyed-Hossein Tajer. The bridge includes 16 spans with an overall length of 105 meters and width of 5 meters. Due to several times of restoration and reconstruction the bridge doesn't have a uniform architecture. Three spans out of 16 are semi circular shape while rest of the spans are in zig zag shape. Recently the restoration of the bridge was performed by Iranian Organization of Cultural Heritages and registered in Iranian national heritages with number 2516.
In second half of the last century a new bridge has been built next to the ancient bridge and traffic transferred to the new bridge. The old bridge is open only for pedestrian visitors.
References
{{Portalbar, Iran
Bridges in Iran
Buildings and structures in Tabriz
Transportation in East Azerbaijan Province