Baç Bridge ( tr, Baç Köprüsü also called ''Justinyen Köprüsü'') is a bridge in Tarsus in

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of fo ...

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 ...

Geography

The bridge is situated to the east of the city at about . Its distance to Tarsus city center is about and to the

Tarsus Waterfall Tarsus Waterfall is located on the northern outskirts of the city of Tarsus, not far from the motorway , in southern Turkey. Since the construction of the Berdan Dam Berdan Dam is an embankment dam on the Berdan River in Mersin Province, Tur ...

is about . It is over the

Berdan River The Berdan (also Baradān or Baradā), the ancient Cydnus ( el, Κύδνος), is a river in Mersin Province, south Turkey. The historical city of Tarsus is on the river and it is therefore sometimes called the Tarsus River. Originally the water ...

(Latin:''Cydnus''), and on the former highway connecting Tarsus to

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

History

During the

ancient age Ancient history is a time period from the 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 cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

s the course of Berdan River was at the west of the city which was then a

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

port. But because of alluvial deposits from the Berdan River the coastline was continuously moving to south. By the 6th century, the coastline had already been moved away and a small lagoon named ''Rhegma'' had been formed which obstructed the river flow in the rainy seasons and caused floods.

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 ...

Emperor

Justinian I 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 ...

(reigned 527-565) changed the course of the river by constructing a channel at the east of the city to facilitate easier flow. The channel is the present course of the river. Justinian also constructed the bridge bearing his name over the new course. During the early

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

(pre Ottoman ) times the caravans had to pay a certain customs duty to use the bridge. The word for customs duty was “''baç''” (sometimes spelled ''bac'') and the bridge was renamed “''baç bridge''”. According to an essay by a local historian the baç was cancelled during the Ottoman eraAn essay by Şahin Özkan
/ref> In 1960s a

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

connecting

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

to Adana was constructed to the south of Tarsus and Baç Bridge was put out of use. After its active service life now the bridge is conserved in the Kuvai Milliye Park of Tarsus Tarsus map
/ref> It was restored in 1978.

Construction

The bridge is an

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

. There are three arches. Presently the width of the river is about .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bac Bridge Tarsus, Mersin Arch bridges in Turkey Bridges completed in the 6th century Roman bridges in Turkey Buildings of Justinian I Buildings and structures in Mersin Province Stone arch bridges Former toll bridges in Turkey