Longest stone road bridge: world record set in Turkey (VIDEO)
ANKARA, Turkey -- The Uzunköprü Bridge, located in Turkey's Edirne province, connects Turkey to the Balkans and Europe; it is a 15th-century Ottoman bridge, which gave its name to the town of Uzunköprü and has 174 arches, is 1,392 m (4,567 ft) long and up to 6.80 m (22.3 ft) wide, thus setting the new world record for the Longest stone road bridge, according to the World Record Academy. Photo: Located on the Ergene River, and formerly known as Ergene Bridge, Uzunköprü is a bridge that connects Turkey to the Balkans and Europe. (enlarge photo)
The ancient stone-built bridge with 174 arches, is 1,392 m (4,567 ft) long and up to 6.80 m (22.3 ft) wide. Some of the arches are pointed and some are round.
When it was first completed, the structure was the longest bridge in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey, a title which it held for 530 years until 1973, when it was surpassed by the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. However, Uzunköprü is still the longest stone bridge in Turkey.
The bridge was made to cross the Ergene River, which was a natural barrier for advances into the Balkans for the Ottoman Empire; its old name was Ergene Bridge (Ottoman Turkish: Cisr-i Ergene).
It is so long in order to cross a low-lying marshy area. The bridge was restored in 1963.
Mayor Enis İşbilen told Anadolu Agency that the bridge is also on UNESCO's Tentative List for World Heritage, and requires immediate restoration work, as there have been cracks in its aqueducts.
