Penkalas Bridge

{{Infobox Bridge

|bridge_name = Penkalas Bridge

|image = AizanoiBrücke.jpg

|caption = Penkalas Bridge in 1992

|official_name =

|carries =

|crosses = Penkalas (Kocaçay)

|locale = Aezani, Turkey

|maint =

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|designer =

|design = Arch bridge

|material = Stone

|spans = 5

|pierswater =

|mainspan =

|length =

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|below =

|traffic =

|begin =

|complete = 2nd century AD

|open =

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|coordinates = {{coord|39.200833|29.612222|display=inline,title}}

}}

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).{{harvnb|Galliazzo|1994|p=403}} According to reports by European travellers, the ancient parapet remained in use as late as 1829, having been replaced today by an iron railing.

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

See also

References

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Sources

  • {{Citation

| last = Galliazzo

| first = Vittorio

| title = I ponti romani. Catalogo generale

| volume = 2

| year = 1994

| publisher = Edizioni Canova

| location = Treviso

| isbn = 88-85066-66-6

| page = 403 (No. 839)

}}

  • {{Citation

| last = O’Connor

| first = Colin

| title = Roman Bridges

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| year = 1993

| page = 124 (No. E12)

| isbn = 0-521-39326-4

}}