The Dicle Bridge ( tr, Dicle Köprüsü; ku, Pira Dehderî, script=Latn) is a historic bridge in
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortres ...
over the river
Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
( tr, Dicle) in southeastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. Completed in 1065, it numbers ten arches with a total length of . Hence, it is locally called also "On Gözlü Köprü" / "Pira Dehderî" (literally: Ten Arches Bridge). Its another name is the Silvan Bridge due to its position being on the road to
Silvan.
The bridge was commissioned by Nizam al-Din and Muyyid al-Dawla during the
Kurdish dynasty,
Marwanids era (990–1085) in Diyarbakır, and was built by architect
Yusuf son of Ubeyd son of Sandjar in 1065, as stated in two lines of
Kufic script in the inscription mounted on the southern facade of the bridge.
The bridge is situated south of the city, outside of Mardinkapı/Deriyê Mêrdînê (literally:
Mardin
Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location ...
Gate). Its location is the nearest to the city considered the bends and the course of the river as well as the rate of water flow. Built with black volcanic stones, the bridge is long and wide, varying at some places on it. Longest span of the ten arches measures .
Due to its historic characteristic, motorized traffic over the bridge suspended after the construction of the
Marwanids Bridge ( tr, Mervaniler Köprüsü; ku, Pira Merwaniyan, script=Latn), or as initially named Bağıvar Bridge, in November 2009. The new bridge was built about south of Dicle Bridge, far enough not to spoil the landscape view of the old bridge.
References
Buildings and structures completed in 1065
Bridges completed in the 11th century
Road bridges in Turkey
Deck arch bridges
Bridges in Diyarbakır
Bridges over the Tigris River
Stone bridges in Turkey
Pedestrian bridges in Turkey
Kurdish culture
Arch bridges in Turkey
{{Turkey-bridge-struct-stub