Penkalas Bridge

39°12′03″N 29°36′44″E / 39.200833°N 29.612222°E / 39.200833; 29.612222CrossesPenkalas (Kocaçay)LocaleAezani, TurkeyCharacteristicsDesignArch bridgeMaterialStoneNo. of spans5HistoryConstruction end2nd century ADLocation

The Penkalas Bridge is a Roman bridge over the Penkalas (today Kocaçay), a small tributary of the Rhyndakos (Adırnas Çayı), in Aezani, Asia Minor (Çavdarhisar in present-day Turkey).

The 2nd-century AD structure was once one of four ancient bridges in Aezani and is assumed to have been the most important crossing-point due to its central location in the vicinity of the Zeus temple and the direct access it provided to the Roman road to Cotyaeum (Kütahya).^[1] According to reports by European travellers, the ancient parapet remained in use as late as 1829, having been replaced today by an iron railing.^[1]

Around 290 m upstream, another well-preserved, almost identical five-arched Roman bridge leads across the Penkalas.^[1]

See also

• List of Roman bridges
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering

References

Sources

• Galliazzo, Vittorio (1994), I ponti romani. Catalogo generale, vol. 2, Treviso: Edizioni Canova, p. 403 (No. 839), ISBN 88-85066-66-6
• O’Connor, Colin (1993), Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, p. 124 (No. E12), ISBN 0-521-39326-4

External links

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