SULTAN SÜLEYMAN BRIDGE

Büyükçekmece - Istanbul - Turkey



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This bridge is on the Büyükçekmece Lake, Kültürpark about 40 km from Istanbul, at the juncture of Büyükçekmece lake and Marmara Sea on the Istanbul-Edirne road. The bridge connects Büyükçekmece to the Mimarsinan Township.

Spanning 636 meters over the natural channel that connects the Büyükçekmece Lake with the Sea of Marmara to the south, the bridge was built beginning 1563 by Süleyman I (Kanuni Sultan Süleyman or Süleyman the Magnificent, 1520-1566) during his Szigetvar campaign. Upon his death, Selim II ordered the completion of the bridge and it was subsequently used during the return of the Army from the Expedition.

Sinan describes this bridge as one of his most favorite works. Perhaps this explains why the Büyükçekmece Bridge is the only one of his works that carries Sinan’s personal signature. Unfortunately, the original signature was stolen and has been substituted by a replica.

A stone bridge built by the Romans and restored by Mehmed II allowed passage further north prior to the construction of the current bridge by head-architect Sinan. Sinan also designed a small complex on the eastern bank of the channel for Sokullu Mehmed Paşa that consists of a fountain (çeşme), caravanserai (kervansaray) and a small mosque (mescit) known as Sokullu Mehmed Paşa Mescidi or Köprübaşı (foot of the bridge) Mosque. The bridge and the complex were completed a year into the rule of Sultan Süleyman's successor, Sultan Selim II (1566-1574).

The structure also known as the Büyükçekmece Bridge consists of four sections that individually ascend and descend carried on arches, resting on artificial islands placed in between. From east to west, the first two sections have seven arches each, followed by a five and a nine-arched section, with four-centered arches varying from 4.5 to 11.9 meters in width.

After choosing firm ground closer to the seabed to span the channel, Sinan laid hexagonal artificial islands with thick retaining walls for during low tide. Lead was poured into caissons dug into the seabed prior to filling the foundations to create a stronger foundation.

The bridge carries a two-lane cobblestone road that is protected with shallow stone barriers on either side. The first section at the eastern end has two stone balconies at its apex that project over the river carried on stone braces. The forth section, to the west, has two inscription panels facing each other on either side of the road. Composed in Arabic, the southern panel offers praise to Süleyman I and Selim II and gives the date of construction.

Mimar Sinan, who is referred to as Yusuf bin Abdullah in this panel, also has a signature to its side displaying this alternative name that is only mentioned in an early version of his monograph, Tezkiret-ül Ebniye. The northern panel is in Turkish and announces the completion of the bridge by Sultan Selim II.

A highway bridge was built to the south of the Sultan Süleyman Bridge in 1950 to accommodate intercity traffic. The historic bridge was restored in 1970 by the Turkish Highways Administration and is closed to traffic.

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RÜSTEM PASHA CARAVANSERAI

Karaköy, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'21.3"N 28°58'19.5"E / 41.022583, 28.972083



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The Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai, also known as Kurşunluhan, was built upon the foundations of ruined San Michelle Genoese Church in Galata, Balıkpazarı Kardeşim Street by Sinan the Architect between 1544 and 1550. During the Byzantine Period, measuring instruments were being adjusted in the church. The construction of the caravanserai commenced after Hacı Halil Ağa masjid, which was the first to be built after the conquest, was relocated in Yenibahçe.

The Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai, this building was built for the grand vizier to Süleyman the Magnificent in the 1540s. Remarkably, it survives to this day, unrestored, with its eight domes intact. The caravanserai was built over the ruins of a Genoese Cathedral.

This peculiar architecture is probably the most hidden work by Mimar Sinan in Istanbul. Disguised behind an anonymous door in the un-touristy side of Karaköy, in the vicinity of the Tünel funicular stop and the port, this building, formerly known as Rüstempasa Caravensarai, was a roadside inn were merchant travelers, their servants and animals could rest at the end of a day's journey.

This type of building has existed since the 10th century, when they were built outside the walls of the city and along caravan routes (therefore the Turkish name Caravensarai, caravan palace). They supported the flow of commerce, people and information across the network of trade routes covering Central Asia and Middle East, the Silk Road being the most famous one among them. The Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha commissioned Sinan to build this large inn just outside the walls of the Galata district.

The two storey han, favoured by mostly Christian customers, measures 83 x 35 m with a courtyard measuring 8.1 x 43.2 m. The han contains 27 rooms and 2 courts on the first floor, and 30 rooms on the second floor and eight-domes. It is mentioned as Kurşunlu Han in the 1561 Foundation Charter of Rüstem Pasha. The two-storey building has a narrow and elongated open courtyard. It is open to the public, except on Sundays.

Rüstem Pasha Han (or Kurşunlu Han) is still a working han. Corinthian cap on the left at the entrance. It was probably taken from a church that was turned down when the han was built, and pressed into service as part of a water pump.

Behind an undignified sole entrance, embedded between narrow streets filled with shops selling electronics and hydraulic machinery, the rectangular two story space consists of a central court surrounded by a cloister-like arcade. The ground floor is connected by an open stone stairway to a second story that is ringed by masonry pointed arches that give access to many small rooms.

At its peak, the ground floor was used for storing the bales of merchandise or stabling the camels, and the upstairs chambers lodged the travelers. Nowadays the entrance level is a godforsaken storage space where merchandise is scattered across the floor and the upper floor rooms are used by tornacis (turners) and other craftsmen. The courtyard is open to the sky and has a pleasant grape vine that somehow evokes the Ottoman times when the place was full of life.

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