Makestos Bridge
Coordinates: 39 ° 51 '55 " N , 28 ° 9' 53" E
Makestos Bridge | ||
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Side and top views of the Makestos Bridge | ||
Convicted | Street Hadrianutherai -Miletopolis | |
Crossing of | Makestos ( Susurluk Çayı ) | |
place | Near Balıkesir ( Turkey ) | |
construction | Segment arch bridge in composite construction | |
overall length | 234 m (without driveways) | |
width | 6.35 m | |
Number of openings | 13 | |
Pillar spacing | Approx. 17.80 m | |
Clear width | 14.20 m | |
Arrow height | 4.30 m | |
Pillar strength | 3.60 m | |
Arrow ratio | 3.3 to 1 | |
Flow profile | 4 to 1 | |
construction time | Probably 4th century AD | |
Status | 13 of 15 sheets preserved (as of 1902) | |
location | ||
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Old map of Mysia | ||
The Makestos Bridge is roughly in the middle of the picture ("Roman Bridge"). |
The Makestos Bridge or Bridge of Sultançayır was a Roman segment arch bridge over the Makestos River ( Susurluk Çayı , also Simav Çayı ) in Balıkesir in what is now northwestern Turkey . With its flat arches, slender pillars and the hollow chamber system, the structure documented the progress made in late antique bridge construction. The 234 m long construction was the subject of first cursory investigations at the beginning of the 20th century, but has since been forgotten; Only a few pillars and breakwaters remain from the bridge. The rest of it has completely decayed in the last hundred years (as seen in June 2009).
exploration
Located in the historical Mysia landscape , the bridge leads across the Makestos from today's Sultançayır , where it served as a connection between Hadrianutherai ( Balıkesir ) and Miletopolis in ancient times . The archaeologist Theodor Wiegand found the building on his exploratory trips through Mysia in 1902 in an excellent state of preservation; only the fourth pillar from the eastern bank had been blown up 30 years earlier in an unsuccessful attempt to make the river passable for larger ships. Another brief description can be found by the English archaeologist Frederick William Hasluck , who was also visiting the region at the time.
construction
The Makestos Bridge is 6.35 m wide and around 234 m long without ramps. The axis width of its thirteen preserved segmental arches is each approx. 17.80 m, the clear span 14.20 m and the pillar width only 3.60 m. The piers reinforced upstream with triangular breakwaters offer the current relatively little surface to attack (ratio of clear width to pillar thickness of almost 4: 1). The elevation from the spur line to the keystone is only 4.30 m, the resulting span of 3.3 to 1 places the Makestos Bridge in the round dozen well-known flat arch bridges from Roman times.
Hollow chambers are cut out in the interior of the bridge body, which serve to save material and reduce weight; the cavities are 4.40 m wide, 2.05 m long and all lie across the longitudinal axis of the bridge. Similar hollow chamber structures can also be found in other late antique bridges in Asia Minor , such as B. the Aiseposbrücke , in which the narrow, slot-like channels, however, point in the direction of the road.
On the outside there are pairs of arched niches in the arch spandrels, between which a niche that is twice as large is located downstream in the center of the pillar. Bridge formwork and baffles were built with carefully hewn limestone blocks.
The outer vaulted stones consist of an alternating bond of bricks and wedge stone blocks, while the inner vaulted area was built entirely from bricks, according to Hasluck. As further materials, Wiegand mentions marble - presumably as a cladding - and mortar , which must have been used for masonry, but could also indicate that the bridge body was filled with Roman concrete . Apparently , ancient spoils were not used.
Dating
According to Wiegand, the use of flat arches made of brick and stone suggests a late Roman to early Byzantine era. Based on the constructive parallels with the bridges over the neighboring rivers Granikos ( White Bridge ) and Aisepos ( Aisepos Bridge ), Hasluck dates the building to the era of Constantine the Great († 337 AD). A late Byzantine height fortification 300 m away documents the use of the bridge until at least the beginning of the 14th century.
See also
literature
- Frederick William Hasluck: A Roman Bridge on the Aesepus . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens , Vol. 12 (1905/06), pp. 184-189
Web links
proof
- Theodor Wiegand : Travels in Mysia . In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department , Issue 29 (1904), p. 300 f. (254–339)