The bridges of Istanbul are an integral part of the urban landscape and the pride of the citizens. It has quite a lot of structures of this type, 2 of which we will describe now.
The Bosphorus Bridge is an old building that connects the European part of the city with the Asian one. Thanks to him, you can visit two different parts of the world in a matter of minutes. The construction of such a bridge was conceived by the Persian emperor Darius I. After all, the construction across the Bosphorus could help the ruler of Persia to transfer his army to the other side in order to crush the army of the worst enemy - Alexander the Great. His dream came true in 480 BC when a pontoon bridge was built across the Bosporus. Hundreds of years passed before a proposal was received from one of the railway companies to Sultan Abdul Hamid II to replace the then structure with a new one, with a railway connection. However, the construction of the Bosphorus Bridge began only half a century later, in 1970. After 3 years, a grandiose opening of the structure took place, hanging 64 m above the waters of the Bosphorus. The construction cost 200 million dollars, the length of the structure is 1510 m, and the width is 39 m. The Bosphorus Bridge has 6 lanes (3 in each direction) and 2 more for the movement of emergency services. More than 200,000 people cross it every day.machines, although it is paid. Because of the mass cases of suicide, pedestrian roads were closed by the authorities. In order for the bridge not to be overloaded with traffic, trucks were prohibited from running.
Besides the Bosphorus Bridge, Istanbul boasts another attraction that connects the shores of the Golden Horn Bay. This is the Galata Bridge. It has a rather long and rich history. For all the time, many bridges were built over the bay, but they constantly remained non-functional for various reasons. One of them was built by Sultan Mehmet II Fatih between the districts of Kasimpasa and Ayvansaray. The project of this bridge was drawn even by Leonardo Da Vinci, due to which there are 2 legends. According to the first, Sultan Beyazid II did not approve of him, according to the second, Leonardo was dissuaded by the Venetians from going to Turkey. And in 1912, a new bridge was built for 50 thousand gold pieces. However, like many others, it met a tragic fate when it caught fire in 1992 under unclear circumstances. For the fifth and currently the last time, the Galata Bridge was constructed a year and a half after the fire - in 1994. It is 490 meters long and 42 meters wide. So that ships could ply under it, it was built sliding. An interesting fact is that Galatsky is one of the longest bridges in the world, along which rails are laid. Today, a tram runs along them. Ten years ago, cafes, shops and restaurants were opened under the bridge. And today on it in the evenings you can see hundreds of people who have decided to spend the evening quietly incompany with friends.
Istanbul, the reviews of tourists about which can tell about its popularity, has a huge number of attractions built over many centuries: Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, Bosphorus Bridge, Maiden Tower, Blue Mosque and many, many others.
