Baç Bridge

Baç Bridge
(Jüstinyen Bridge)
Baç Bridge; (Jüstinyen Bridge)
	Baç Bridge (Justinian Bridge)
Coordinates	36°55′16″N 34°55′07″E / 36.9212°N 34.9187°E
Crosses	Berdan River
Characteristics
Material	Stone arches
Total length	60 m (200 ft)
No. of spans	3
History
Construction start	ca. 550s
Closed	1960s
Location

Baç Bridge (Turkish: Baç Köprüsü also called Justinyen Köprüsü) is a bridge in Tarsus in Mersin Province, Turkey

Geography

The bridge is situated to the east of the city at about 36°55′17″N 34°55′04″E / 36.92139°N 34.91778°E / 36.92139; 34.91778. Its distance to Tarsus city center is about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) and to the Tarsus Waterfall is about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). It is over the Berdan River (Latin:Cydnus), and on the former highway connecting Tarsus to Adana.

History

During the

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565) changed the course of the river by constructing a channel at the east of the city to facilitate easier flow.^[1]

The channel is the present course of the river. Justinian also constructed the bridge bearing his name over the new course.

During the early

Turkish (pre Ottoman ) times the caravans had to pay a certain customs duty to use the bridge. The word for customs duty was “baç” (sometimes spelled bac) and the bridge was renamed “baç bridge”.^[2] According to an essay by a local historian the baç was cancelled during the Ottoman era^[1]

In 1960s a ring road connecting Mersin to Adana was constructed to the south of Tarsus and Baç Bridge was put out of use. After its active service life now the bridge is conserved in the Kuvai Milliye Park of Tarsus ^[3] It was restored in 1978.

Construction

The bridge is an arch bridge. There are three arches. Presently the width of the river is about 60 metres (200 ft).

References

[YT-1] An essay by Şahin Özkan (in Turkish)

[2] Paper by Fevziye Kökdil submitted in the Historical cities Meeting in 2015 (in Turkish)

[3] Tarsus map

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