A bridge with no river
Seven great arches and five flood arches stand over a meadow since the Sakarya wandered three kilometres east.
Acar54 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Léon de Laborde — Public domain · fatihset — CC BY 3.0 · Carole Raddato from Frankfurt, Germany — CC BY-SA 2.0
A bridge roughly 365 metres long with no river under it: that is the oddity that makes the Sangarius Bridge worth a detour. Justinian I raised it between 559 and 562, in the same years the dome of Hagia Sophia was being rebuilt in Constantinople after its collapse, so the empire's eastern highway could cross the fast, flood-prone Sakarya. Then the river did what rivers do and wandered about three kilometres east over the centuries, leaving seven great limestone arches and five smaller flood arches standing over a meadow and the narrow Çark stream. Locals call it Beşköprü, the Five Bridges, a name older than anyone's careful count of the arches. The detail still rewards a slow walk: cleanly cut limestone blocks, a deck almost ten metres wide, enough for two carts to pass, and at the eastern end a semicircular apse of uncertain purpose, perhaps an open-air shrine, once matched by a triumphal arch at the western end, now entirely gone. Turkey put the bridge on its UNESCO tentative list in 2018, and the same year began a restoration that stretched to eight years and uncovered a late-Roman bath complex, a cistern and vaulted rooms around the bridge, along with coins, inscriptions and carved capitals, evidence that this was a settlement and way-station rather than a mere crossing. It reopened to visitors at the end of July 2026 with landscaped grounds around the arches. Keep expectations honest. Entry is free, the site is open ground on the edge of Adapazarı, suburbs and modern housing sit within view, and do not expect much in the way of explanation on site. Walking the deck and circling the excavations takes half an hour to an hour at most; the paths are fairly level and manageable with a pushchair, but there is almost no shade. In August heat go late afternoon or towards dusk; in winter the meadow turns muddy after rain, so bring proper shoes. From Sapanca it is about 20 km, 25 to 30 minutes by car along the motorway towards Adapazarı and off at Serdivan, by far the easiest way. Without a car, take the minibus from Sapanca to Adapazarı and a short taxi to the Beşköprü neighbourhood. Treat it as a stop on the way into Adapazarı or a fallback for a grey day when the lake is not tempting, not an outing in its own right.
Seven great arches and five flood arches stand over a meadow since the Sakarya wandered three kilometres east.
A surviving semicircular structure of uncertain purpose at the east end, once paired with a lost triumphal arch at the west.
The restoration finished in 2026 uncovered a bath complex, cistern and vaulted rooms beside the bridge.
Beşköprü Mahallesi, Serdivan, Sakarya
Not on its own; you get half an hour to an hour on open ground with no shade and no facilities. Pair it with Adapazarı or stop on your way past, and in summer go late in the day when the heat eases.
The site reopened to visitors in July 2026 after the restoration; the deck is the point of the visit and is generally walkable, and the surrounding paths are fairly level and pushchair-friendly, though muddy in winter.
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