Adapazarı from Lake Poyrazlar to Beşköprü, Museums and a Bridge

Begin the route at Lake Poyrazlar while the morning light is still soft. The Culture Portal writes that the lake lies north of Adapazarı, near the village of Poyrazlar, eight kilometres from the city centre. According to Wikipedia, the lake is reached at the tenth kilometre of the old Sakarya-Karasu road, or at the fifth kilometre after the Güneşler junction on the new Karasu road. Because it is a nature park, there is an entrance fee; check the current details with the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks. First walk down to the shore and take in the whole lake, because the real lesson of this stop is how the lake was formed. Wikipedia describes it as an alluvial levee lake created when the Sakarya River changed its bed, and notes that the river flows only 350 metres away from the lake. When the river floods, its waters enter the lake through a narrow channel, while in normal times the river feeds the lake by seepage. At the last stop of the day you will see a bridge that the river no longer flows under because it changed its course; this lake is the first trace of the same movement. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism writes that the lake covers an area of 67 hectares, with a shoreline of 2,400 metres and a depth of between three and eight metres. These measurements show that the lake can easily be grasped on a morning walk. As you walk along the shore, head towards the southern end of the lake. According to Wikipedia, the southern parts are shallow and covered in reeds, and there is a small floodplain forest here that serves as a feeding and breeding area for waterbirds. The directorate reports that 154 bird species have been recorded at the lake so far, of which 65 are resident, 47 are summer visitors and 36 are winter visitors. That is why binoculars or a zoom lens will be useful at this stop. The English Wikipedia also notes that a wide variety of butterflies can be seen in early May. Pay attention to the forest around the lake as well; according to the directorate, alongside the natural hornbeam and oak forest there are areas later planted with Anatolian black pine and Scots pine. The same source writes that species such as the fox, squirrel, hedgehog, tortoise and spotted salamander live on the site; if you walk quietly along the path you may come across their tracks. The area was declared a first-degree natural protected site in 1993, and the western shore of the lake became a nature park in 2011. Remember that you are in a protected area and do not leave the paths. The directorate also mentions that bicycles can be rented in the park; cycling around the lake is an easy way to see the whole shoreline. For photographs, wait for the moments in the first hours of the morning when the water is still and the forest on the far shore is reflected on the surface. Because it becomes crowded with picnickers at weekends, weekday mornings are the calmest time. Take a short break on one of the benches by the lake, because you will be on your feet for a long time at the next two stops. From here it is about eight kilometres to the city centre, and you need to cover this stretch by car or taxi.

Source: Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Poyrazlar Gölü Tabiat Parkı; Kültür Portalı, Poyrazlar Gölü; Wikipedia, Poyrazlar Gölü.

When you reach the city centre, go first to the Earthquake Culture Museum. The KÜRE Encyclopedia writes that the museum stands on Kavaklar Street in the Cumhuriyet neighbourhood of Adapazarı, while the Metropolitan Municipality's tourism brochure notes that the building was erected on the grounds of the Officers' Club. Before you go inside, step back a few paces and look at the outside of the building. According to Wikipedia, the structure was designed in the shape of a collapsed building, resembling ruined walls and tilted columns. KÜRE also explains that tilted columns, broken beams and ruined walls were used deliberately on the facade, and that the architecture aims to give visitors a direct experience. In other words, the museum's story begins with the building itself, before you even enter. The museum is run by the Adapazarı Municipality; construction of the building began in 2000 and the museum opened to visitors in 2004. The brochure sums up the museum's purpose as keeping society's awareness of earthquakes alive and commemorating those who lost their lives in the earthquake of 17 August 1999. This is a place of remembrance, so keep your voice low inside and take your time going through the exhibition. Inside, head first to the photography exhibition. According to KÜRE, photographs selected from the archive of the Anadolu Agency documenting the effects of the 1999 earthquake hold an important place in the exhibition areas. Wikipedia also writes that the museum displays photographs from the 1967 and 1999 earthquakes showing the city before and after. Seeing these two dates together helps you understand that the city was tested twice on the same fault line. Then move on to the section devoted to the construction techniques and building materials of the buildings that collapsed in the earthquake; this part turns the exhibition from a place of memory into a place that informs. The museum's most talked about section is the earthquake simulation. KÜRE and an Anadolu Agency report write that the platform recreates about 45 seconds of the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck at 03.02 on 17 August 1999. Entering the simulation is optional; for visitors with heart or balance problems and for small children, skipping this section may be the right choice. The museum also has an area with glass crystals bearing the names of people who lost their lives in disasters. Pause for a while in this area and show respect to the visitors around you before taking any photographs. KÜRE notes that the museum hosts earthquake awareness training together with AFAD and the education directorates, so you may meet school groups on weekdays. According to a 2024 Anadolu Agency report, the museum has welcomed more than a million visitors since it opened. The brochure states that admission is free; check the current visiting days with the municipality before you go. On the way out, walk towards the Sakarya Museum; there are only a few hundred metres between the two museums.

Source: KÜRE Ansiklopedi, Adapazarı Deprem ve Kültür Müzesi; Yeni Birlik (AA), Deprem Kültür Müzesi; Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Turizm Broşürü 2025.

When you reach the Sakarya Museum, first take note of the building and its location. According to the museums website, the museum stands on Milli Egemenlik Street in the Semerciler neighbourhood, opposite the station, which makes it an easy stop for anyone arriving on the Adaray commuter train as well. The museum is run by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; admission is free and it is closed on Mondays. Check the current opening hours on the museums website. The building is like a continuation of the story you saw at the Earthquake Culture Museum. According to the ministry's account, the house was built between 1910 and 1915 by Major Baha Bey, head of the military recruitment office of the time, as a three-storey building including the ground floor. The house was badly damaged in the 1967 earthquake and was later registered as an example of civil architecture. The ministry expropriated the building and had it rebuilt in reinforced concrete inside while keeping its exterior faithful to the original. The museum opened on 21 June 1993; it closed when its display cases and exhibits were damaged in the 1999 earthquake, and it reopened to visitors on 28 June 2003. So the two earthquakes whose photographs you saw an hour ago also left their mark on the history of this building. The house has another significance as well: the sources write that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed here in June 1922 and met his mother Zübeyde Hanım in this house. Begin your visit in the garden, because the garden is an open-air exhibition. According to the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, architectural fragments from the Roman and Byzantine periods found within the province are displayed here, along with gravestones, altars, inscribed stones, an ossuary, a terracotta storage jar and column bases. Pause for a while in front of the inscribed stones; you are looking at fragments of a world contemporary with the East Roman bridge you will see at the end of the day. Then go inside and up to the exhibition hall on the first floor. The ministry gives the size of the hall as about 85 square metres, so you will have time to look at the objects one by one. The archaeological cases hold flat hand axes, terracotta vessels, perfume and tear bottles, and metal and glass objects. The municipal brochure notes that coins from the Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and Late Roman periods are also on display. The ethnographic section contains firearms and bladed weapons, copper vessels, seals and embroidery from the Ottoman and Republican periods. According to the ministry, these objects were selected from the ethnography museums of Bursa, Amasya, Konya, Tokat and Ankara and brought here. Look in this section for the display case holding objects used by Atatürk as well. Because the glass of the display cases reflects light, take your photographs at an angle. After leaving the museum, use a car or the city's public transport to reach the final stop, Beşköprü; the bridge lies to the southwest of the city.

Source: Müzeler (muze.gov.tr), Sakarya Müzesi; Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Sakarya Müzesi; Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Turizm Broşürü 2025.

The last stop of the day is the Justinian Bridge, which local people call Beşköprü. The municipal brochure notes that the bridge now lies within the boundaries of the Serdivan district; the Culture Portal gives its distance from the city centre as eight kilometres, while Wikipedia gives it as about five kilometres. When you arrive, first look at what the bridge actually stands over. According to the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the bridge spans the Çark stream, known in antiquity as the Melas, which carries the waters of Lake Sapanca to the Sakarya River. According to Wikipedia, however, the structure crossed the Sakarya River when it was built, and over time the river's bed shifted about three kilometres to the east. The story of the river's movement that began at Lake Poyrazlar in the morning is thus completed here: today a small stream flows under an enormous bridge. The bridge was built in the reign of the East Roman Emperor Justinian I, but the sources differ on its date and size. The directorate and the Culture Portal give the years of construction as 558-560 AD, its length as 365 metres and its width as 9.85 metres, and they speak of twelve arches in total. Wikipedia, drawing on contemporary sources, writes that construction began in the autumn of 559 and was completed in 562, and that the bridge is 429 metres long including the abutments at both ends. Keep this difference in mind and measure the bridge with your eyes from end to end; whichever figure you take, you are looking at one of the most magnificent structures surviving from this era in Anatolia. According to Wikipedia, the bridge was the crossing point of the strategic road linking Constantinople with the eastern provinces of the empire, and Procopius relates that it replaced a pontoon bridge that was often torn away by the current. Wikipedia writes that the bridge is built entirely of limestone; as you approach the piers between the arches you will also see the workmanship of the blocks. Look closely at the piers between the arches. Wikipedia writes that the piers were made pointed on the side facing downstream and rounded on the opposite side, a feature that sets the bridge apart from most known Roman bridges. Then walk to the eastern end and look for the apse structure. The directorate notes that there are remains of an apsed structure and a vaulted structure at the eastern end of the bridge and traces of an arch at the western end; according to Wikipedia, the triumphal arch on the west stood until the 19th century. Wikipedia also relates that the bridge was adorned with a Greek verse inscription by Agathias, which has not survived, although its text was preserved in the writings of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. The story of the name is also interesting. According to the directorate, the bridge was first called pons, the Latin word for bridge, and this word later turned into Pontogephyra and then into Pentegephyra, meaning Five Bridges; yet the bridge is neither in five parts nor does it have five arches. The directorate writes that the bridge entered the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2018, that a restoration project is under way and that the bridge is closed; so ask before you go whether you can walk onto it. If it is closed, view the structure from the bank of the stream and from both ends of the bridge. For photographs, wait for late afternoon, when the setting sun paints the limestone blocks a warm colour. The route ends here, and you return to the city centre by car or by the city's public transport.

Source: Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Tarihi Justinianus Köprüsü; Kültür Portalı, Justinianus Köprüsü; Wikipedia, Justinianus Köprüsü.