Akköprü (, "white bridge", ) is a historical bridge in Yenimahalle district of

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

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 ...

, crosses the

Ankara River Ankara River () is a small river (stream) to the west of Ankara, Turkey. It is a tributary of the Sakarya River. One of its tributaries, the Çubuk Brook, splits Ankara almost in half and crosses through many neighborhoods. There are many bridg ...

in front of Varlık neighbourhood. It is the oldest bridge in Ankara and still in good condition. The neighbourhood around the bridge was also named 'Akköprü'. The area is home to the great ''Atatürk Cultural Centre'' and ''Ankamall'' shopping centre, the biggest mall in Ankara.

History

The bridge was constructed during the reign of the Seljuk sultan Alaaddin Kayqubad I in the early 13th century. It was commissioned by Kızıl Bey, the Seljuk governor of Ankara, in 1222. The bridge was located on the old trade route to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Structure

The main construction material used in the construction of the bridge is

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

stone. The bridge has seven arches, four of them being bigger and the others smaller. The metallic parapets were attached subsequently. There are two inscriptions in the western side of the bridge, one of them being rubbed out.

References

External links

* Wowturkey.com
Images of Akköprü bridge
Seljuk bridges in Turkey Buildings and structures of the Sultanate of Rum Arch bridges in Turkey Yenimahalle, Ankara {{Turkey-bridge-struct-stub