The Galata Bridge Walking Tour in Istanbul - 4K UHD

Walk with me 👉 https://bit.ly/3O7D0vg
My walk map 👉 https://bit.ly/39d4hxW

The Galata Bridge
The Galata Bridge (Turkish: Galata Köprüsü, Turkish pronunciation: [ˈɡaɫata cœpɾyˈsy]) is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels. The current Galata Bridge is just the latest in a series of bridges linking Eminönü in the Fatih district and Karaköy in Beyoğlu since the early 19th century. The current bridge, the fifth on the same site, was built in 1994.

The bridge was named after Galata (the former name for Karaköy) on the northern shore of the Golden Horn.

The first bridge on the Golden Horn, built by Justinian the Great, can be seen near the Theodosian Land Walls at the north-eastern end of the city in this rendering of old Constantinople.
The first recorded bridge over the Golden Horn was built during the reign of Justinian the Great in the 6th century, close to the area near the Theodosian Land Walls at the western end of the city.

In 1453, before the Fall of Constantinople, the Turks assembled a mobile bridge by placing their ships side by side across the water, so that their troops could move from one side of the Golden Horn to the other.

Golden Horn Bridge designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1502.
In 1502–1503, Sultan Bayezid II solicited plans for a bridge in the current location. Utilising three well-known geometrical principles, the pressed-bow, parabolic curve and keystone arch, artist Leonardo da Vinci designed an unprecedented single span 240 m (790 ft) long and 24 m (79 ft) wide bridge across the Golden Horn, which, had it been constructed, would have become the longest bridge in the world.[citation needed] However, the ambitious design was not approved by the Sultan.

Another Italian artist, Michelangelo, was also invited to contribute a design but rejected the proposal, and the idea of building a bridge across the Golden Horn was shelved until the 19th century.

In 2001 a small-scale version of Leonardo's bridge design was constructed near Oslo, Norway by the contemporary artist Vebjørn Sand, the first civil engineering project based on a Leonardo sketch ever to be constructed.

Hayratiye bridge
In the early 19th century, Mahmud II (1808–1839) had a bridge built further up the Golden Horn, between Azapkapı and Unkapanı. This bridge, known as the Hayratiye (Benefaction in English), was opened on September 3, 1836. The project was carried out by Deputy Lord High Admiral Fevzi Ahmet Paşa using the workers and facilities of the naval arsenal at nearby Kasımpaşa. According to the History of Lutfi, this bridge was built on linked pontoons and was around 500–540 m (1,640–1,770 ft) long.

Cisr-i Cedid bridge
In 1845 the first Galata Bridge at the mouth of the waterway (i.e. on the current site) was constructed out of wood at the request of the Valide Sultan, the mother of Sultan Abdülmecid (1839–1861). It was known as the Cisr-i Cedid (New Bridge) to distinguish it from the earlier bridge further up the Golden Horn, which became known as the Cisr-i Atik (Old Bridge).[citation needed] The Baedeker's guidebook also referred to it as the Sultan Valideh Bridge[1] It continued in use for 18 years

On the Karaköy side of the bridge, an inscribed couplet by poet İbrahim Şinasi recorded that the New Bridge was built by Sultan Abdülmecid I who was the first to pass over it. The first to pass below it was the French captain Magnan in his ship the Cygne.

The second bridge
In 1863 this bridge was replaced by a second wooden bridge, built by Ethem Pertev Paşa on the orders of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861–1876) during the infrastructure improvements that preceded Napoleon III's visit to Istanbul.

The third bridge
In 1870, a contract was signed with a French company, Forges et Chantiers de la Mediteranée for construction of a third bridge, but the outbreak of war between France and Germany delayed the project, which was given instead to the British firm G. Wells in 1872. This bridge, completed in 1875, was 480 m (1,570 ft) long and 14 m (46 ft) wide and rested on 24 pontoons. It was built at a cost of 105,000 gold liras and was used until 1912, when it was towed upstream to replace the old Cisr-i Atik Bridge.

The fourth bridge
The fourth Galata Bridge was built in 1912 by the German firm Hüttenwerk Oberhausen AG for 350,000 gold liras. This floating bridge was 466 m (1,529 ft) long and 25 m (82 ft) wide. In 1992 it was badly damaged in a fire and towed up the Golden Horn to make way for the current bridge.

Social Media / Contact
Twitter : https://twitter.com/travelwalking
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/earthtravelwalkingtours
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Earth-Travel-Walking-Tours-102888222457618
Web : http://www.earthtravelwalkingtours.com
E-mail : earthtravelwalkingtours@gmail.com