Cendere Bridge

The Cendere bridge was built around the year 200 by the Sixteenth Legion and the cities of Commagene, and it carries a single arch with a clear span of 34.2 metres across a gorge on the old road north - the longest known surviving Roman arch bridge, still standing nearly two thousand years later and restored in 1997. Four columns stood at the ends, two at each side, dedicated to the emperor Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna and their sons; three remain, the fourth having been removed in antiquity. It carried motor traffic until a modern bridge was built alongside, and it is now open to pedestrians. It sits directly on the road between Kâhta and Nemrut Dağı, so almost everyone visiting the mountain passes it, and it takes twenty minutes. The stone is warm-coloured, the gorge below is dry most of the year, and the setting is bare hill country.

History

The bridge, built around AD 200, was the work of the Legio XVI Gallica, garrisoned at Samosata, today's Samsat. The cities of Commagene raised four Corinthian columns, 9-10 metres high, in honour of Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna and their sons Caracalla and Geta, as the Latin inscription records: two on the Kâhta side for the emperor and his wife, two on the Sincik side for the sons. Geta's column was removed after Caracalla had him murdered and ordered his name erased from all inscriptions. With a clear span of 34.2 metres it is the longest known surviving Roman arch bridge, 120 metres long and 7 wide; in use ever since it was built, it was restored in 1997 and now carries only walkers, with a new road bridge 500 metres to the east (Wikipedia, Severan Bridge).

Highlights

• The single arch - the 34-metre Roman span.
• The three columns - the surviving dedications at the ends.
• The gorge - the Cendere stream below.
• The road setting - the bridge on the route to Nemrut.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Any time of day; it is a short roadside stop, usually combined with the Nemrut trip.

Good to know

It is a twenty-minute stop with no facilities beyond a couple of stalls. There is no interpretation. The area is hot and bare in summer.

Nearby

Karakuş tumulus and Arsameia are on the same road; Nemrut Dağı is beyond them.

Key facts