Çobandede Köprüsü

The Çobandede Bridge is a historic stone bridge crossing the Aras River in the Köprüköy district, east of Erzurum. It is also known locally as the Çoban Bridge, and the district takes its name from it. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam writes that the bridge stands where the Bingöl Stream and the Hasankale Stream meet to form the Aras. The Culture Portal states that the structure lies about 50 kilometres from the city centre, just beyond Pasinler. For centuries the roads from Erzurum towards Muş, Erciş and Van passed over this bridge. The date of construction and the patron of the bridge are given differently in the sources. The Culture Portal and the provincial tourism guide write that the bridge was commissioned in 1298 by Çoban Noyan, an emir of the Ilkhanid ruler Ghazan Khan. In the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Semavi Eyice notes that this is the generally accepted view, but that Emir Çoban's place in Anatolian history is not fully clear, so the connection has become mixed with legend. According to the same article, the repair inscription on the western face is badly damaged and illegible. Evliya Çelebi wrote that the bridge was built by a ruler from the Chobanid family. The English Wikipedia article also refers to different views and to older inscriptions that are no longer in place. The bridge has been repaired many times over the centuries. According to the TDV article, the earliest traces of repair point to the reign of Murad IV, and the date 1727-28 in the inscription is linked to a repair under Ahmed III. According to the TDV, the arch on the northern edge most probably collapsed in a flood and was walled up and closed during the repair of 1872. The bridge underwent another major repair in 1946-1948, and according to the Culture Portal it was last restored in 2011. A miniature of the bridge appears in Matrakçı Nasuh's work on the Iraq campaign, and the TDV notes that the bridge is drawn there with five arches. The dimensions are clearly stated in official sources. According to the Culture Portal and the TDV, the bridge is 128 metres long and 8.5 metres wide. The largest arch span is 13 metres, and the highest point is around 30 metres. The bridge was originally built with seven arches, but since one of them was closed, six arches are visible today. The arches are built of black, red and grey cut stone, and this play of colour is the bridge's best known feature. The TDV reports a local tradition that the stones were brought from the village of Honigi, about 6 kilometres away. The Culture Portal writes that juniper timbers were laid beneath the piers, preventing the bridge from sinking. The most striking detail of the bridge is in its piers. According to the TDV article, the piers have cutwaters on the upstream face and semicircular buttresses on the other face. Angular half turrets rise above these projections, capped with half-pyramid shaped cones. Those on the western face have small slit-like openings, which show that they are hollow inside. What these hollows were for is debated among researchers; some have suggested they sheltered guards, others that they were purely decorative. Mason's marks in the shape of a bow with a nocked arrow can also be seen on the parapet stones. It is best to begin the visit from the riverbank. From below, the coloured arches and the turrets with pointed caps appear together, and the finest view comes from this angle. English Wikipedia states that the bridge is now closed to traffic and that the highway crosses on a parallel bridge about 500 metres to the east. Thanks to this, you can walk on the historic bridge without worrying about traffic. The late afternoon sun warms the red stones and the reddish slope behind, while in the morning the river looks calmer. Since floods at the end of summer are known to have damaged the bridge, do not go too close to the bank when the water is high. Arriving by public transport is possible. The Culture Portal writes that vehicles to Horasan, Tekman, Karayazı, Hınıs and Karaçoban, leaving from the western district bus station in the Şükrüpaşa neighbourhood of Erzurum, pass near the bridge. The bridge is a natural stop on a day trip that continues east after Pasinler Castle. The road turning north reaches the Narman Fairy Chimneys and Oltu.