Construction begin 1566 Total length 636 m | Opened 1567 Width 7.17 m | |
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Crosses Lake Büyükçekmece & Sea of Marmara Official name Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Köprüsü Address Mimarsinan Mahallesi, Mimar Sinan Kavşağı, 34535 Büyükçekmece/İstanbul, Turkey Bodies of water Lake Büyükçekmece, Sea of Marmara Similar Kanuni Bridge, Yalnızgöz Bridge, Fatih Bridge, Abdal Bridge, Saraçhane Bridge | ||
The Kanuni Sultan Suleiman bridge (Turkish: Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Köprüsü) is an arch bridge located in Büyükçekmece, 36 kilometers from the centre of Istanbul, on the European side of the Bosphorus.
The bridge was built during the Ottoman period by Mimar Sinan, across the mouth of the large but shallow inlet known as Lake Büyükçekmece. Construction started in 1566 and the bridge opened in 1567. During construction it is reported that the water was pumped out of Lake Büyükçekmece, and 40,000 m³ of stones were set in place.
The bridge comprises 28 spans and is divided into four sections by the presence of three shallow islets along its length. Its role serving large volumes of traffic as a communications artery has been taken over by a wide modern road bridge on its seaward side, but the sixteenth-century bridge is promoted for its symbolic and historic resonances. Between 1986 and 1989 it was restored at considerable cost.