Fırtına River bridges

The Fırtına River bridges are a group of more than 20 well-preserved Ottoman-era bridges over the Fırtına river and its tributaries near Çamlıhemşin in Rize Province at the eastern end of Turkey's Black Sea coast.

Because of the steep-sided valleys and frequent floods, the bridges have characteristically high arches.

Many of the bridges date from the 18th and 19th centuries, but some may be older. It is thought they were built by stonemasons from the local community, working under the direction of central Ottoman authorities.^[1]

The bridges include:

• Çamlıhemşin Bridge
• Kaptanpaşa Bridge, not dated, but 18th- or 19th-century in style, near the village of Yeşiltepe^[2]
• Buzlupınar Bridge, not dated, but 19th-century in style, in the village of Buzlupınar
• Köprüköy Bridge, date stone unreadable, but 19th-century in style^[3]
• Şenyuva (Cin Civa) Bridge, dated 1696 or 1699 by an inscription that was lost during a 1946 flood^[3][4]
• Mikron Bridge, mid 19th-century; arches, side walls and fill repaired in 1998 ^[5]
• Ardeşen Bridge, late 19th-century construction of dressed and uncut stone, now in poor condition

Several similar bridges in nearby valleys are also notable

• Çağlayan Bridge (Fındıklı)
• Güneyce Bridge (İkizdere)
• Dörtgözlü Bridge (Pazar)

Fırtına River bridges from the Ottoman era
Ottoman arched bridge over the Fırtına river.  Mikron Bridge.  Çamlıhemşin Bridge (near Çamlıhemşin).

References

1. ↑ Ayliffe 2003, p. 801.
2. ↑ KentHaber.com 2008.
3. 1 2 ECO Cultural Institute 2009.
4. ↑ Yale 2005, p. 534.
5. ↑ Altunişik 2011, p. 251–252.

Sources

• "Kaptanpaşa Köprüsü". 7 February 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. 
• "Turkey's many historical bridges targeted in restoration effort". ECO Cultural Institute. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2009. 
• Ayliffe, Rosie (2003), Rough Guide to Turkey (5 ed.), Rough Guides 
• Altunişik, Ahmet Can; Bayraktar, Alemdar; Sevim, Barış; Birinci, Fatma (16 June 2011). "Vibration-based operational modal analysis of the Mikron historic arch bridge after restoration" (PDF). Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems. Taylor & Francis. 28 (3): 247–259. doi:10.1080/10286608.2011.588328. 
• Yale, Pat; Carillet, Jean-Bernard; Maxwell, Virginia (2005), Turkey (9 ed.), Lonely Planet, p. 534 

Bridges in Turkey
Abdal Bridge Ağın Bridge Akköprü Ala Bridge Altıgöz Bridge Aspendos (Eurymedon) Bridge Atatürk Bridge Baç Bridge Birecik Bridge Bosphorus Bridge Demirköprü Devlet Bahçeli Bridge Dicle Bridge Fatih Bridge Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge Fırtına River bridges Galata Bridge Gazi Mihal Bridge Golden Horn Metro Bridge Haliç Bridge Hasankeyf Old Bridge Kanuni Bridge Kanuni Sultan Suleiman Bridge Kemerarası Bridge Kömürhan Bridge Malabadi Bridge Meriç Bridge Misis Bridge Nasrullah Bridge Nissibi Euphrates Bridge Osman Gazi Bridge Penkalas Bridge Saraçhane Bridge Severan Bridge Silifke Bridge Selge (Eurymedon) Bridge Şahruh Bridge Şekerpınarı Bridge Taşköprü Uzunköprü Varda Bridge Yalnızgöz Bridge Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge Yeni Imaret Bridge
Bridges in italic are under construction