Water and Healing Route · Stop 7
The oldest dated bridge on the route: 1145. It was destroyed in an earthquake and rebuilt — but the book's two sources do not agree on the year of that earthquake.
At the western entrance of the city, it links the Hacı İlyas neighbourhood to the İstasyon (Station) area. In historical sources it also appears as the “Sultan Köprüsü” (Sultan Bridge).2
It is recorded as having been built first by the Seljuk Sultan Mesud I in 1145 (AH 540).2 It is built of dressed stone, with 5 spans, arched, in the harpuşta manner.1
The structure was last repaired in 1828 by Özlü Yusuf Ağa, the ayan (leading notable) of Amasya.1
There is a narrative not about this bridge — but about the ground around it. In Mustafa Güler's collection, as the Kurtboğan narrative is being told, the place is described like this:
“If you come to Amasya and cross the İstasyon Bridge — towards the stadium, and the station included — they say that both sides were an old cemetery; you will hear it said. Nowadays these places have become residential areas; the railway station, too, was built on the site.”
“Amasya'ya gelip İstasyon Köprüsü'nden geçerseniz; stada doğru ve istasyon dahil; her iki tarafın eski mezarlık olduğunu söylerler; işitirsiniz. Şimdilerde buralar yerleşim yeri olmuş; tren istasyonu da alana yapılmıştır.”
Mustafa Güler, Amasya Efsaneleri — the Kurtboğan narrative; English translation ours.3
This section is a folk narrative, not a document. The narrative itself is about Kurtboğan; the part quoted here is only a description of the place.
There is an interesting situation here: two of the book's own sources put the same event in different years. This page takes no side; both are shown.
The bridge was destroyed in the earthquake of 1319; it was rebuilt first in timber, and then in masonry by Şadgeldi Paşa in 1368.2
The bridge was destroyed in the earthquake of 1374; it was rebuilt in dressed stone, preserving the building character of Şadgeldi Paşa's time.1
The two accounts cannot both be true: in one the rebuilding is in 1368, in the other the destruction is in 1374. What they share is this: the bridge was built in 1145 by Mesud I, destroyed in an earthquake, and reborn in dressed stone in a period associated with Şadgeldi Paşa. This page states what they share and does not hide where they part.
What is harpuşta? A hump-backed profile in which the middle of the bridge rises and slopes down to either side. In the photograph above this back is clearly visible. Its purpose is both to leave a high opening for flood water and to balance the load of the arches.
The narrative says something very clear: once you cross the bridge, towards the stadium and including the station, both sides are said to have been an old cemetery; today these places have become residential areas, and the railway station was built on that site.3
Cross the bridge and stop. Around you are the station building, a sports ground, houses. The narrative says there is something else beneath this ground. We have no document that confirms it — but the narrative itself is a record too: the city has not forgotten what lies beneath it.
Every factual statement on this page rests on one of the sources below. Titles are given in their original Turkish so that they can be found; quotations from them are our translations.
