Bosphorus Bridge
Historical Places of Turkey - Bosphorus Bridge / İstanbul
Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı in Turkish, literally the “Cannongate Palace” - named after a nearby gate), located in Istanbul (Constantinople), was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1465 to 1853. The construction of the Topkapi Palace was ordered by Sultan Mehmed II in 1459. It was completed in 1465. The palace is located on the Seraglio Point between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, having a splendid view of the Bosphorus. It consists of many smaller buildings built together and surrounded by four courts.
The First Court (or Alay Meydanı) spans over the entire Seraglio Point and is surrounded by high walls. The main gate is called Bab-ı Hümayun, simply the Imperial Gate. Apart from the Topkapi Palace, the First Court also contains the old imperial mint (constructed in 1727), the church of Hagia Eirene, the Archeology Museum (constructed during the 19th century) and various fountains (including the Fountain of the Executioner), pavilions (for example the Çinili Pavilion) and gardens (including the Gülhane Park, the old imperial rose garden). The huge Gate of Greeting (Babüsselam) leads into the palace and the Second Court (Divan Meydanı). This court is a park surrounded by the palace hospital, bakery, Janissary quarters, stables, the imperial Harem and Divan to the north and the kitchens to the south. Through the Gate of Felicity (Babüssaade) is the Third Court which is the heart of the palace, a lush garden surrounded by the Hall of the Privy Chamber (Has Oda) occupied by the palace officials, the treasury (which contains some of the wonderful treasures of the Ottoman age), the Harem and some pavilions, with the library of Ahmed III in the center. The Fourth Court was more of a private garden of the Sultan and consists of a number of pavilions, kiosks (köşk), gardens and terraces.
Other places in the Topkapi Palace are the Tower of Justice, the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle containing relics of the Prophet Muhammad and the first caliphs, the Throne Room (Arz Odası) in the Harem where the Sultan received his guests and envoys, and the Baghdad Pavilion in the Fourth Court, built by Murad IV.
In 1853, Sultan Abdülmecit decided to move their residence to the newly built and modern Dolmabahçe Palace. Today the Topkapi serves as an museum for imperial era, and is one of Istanbul’s greatest tourist attractions.
Comparing to its other contemporary royal residences like Schönbrunn Palace or the ultimately extravagant Versailles, Topkapı Palace distinguishes itself with its human proportions, sensible interiors and prudent layout, despite having housed once the rulers of one of mightiest empires of the world.
The decision to build a bridge across the Bosphorus was taken in 1957 by Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. For the structural engineering work, a contract was signed with the British firm Freeman Fox & Partners in 1968. The designer was the Englishman Gilbert Roberts. The construction started in February 1970, the ceremonies were attended by President Cevdet Sunay and Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel. The construction was carried out by the Turkish firm Enka Construction & Industry Co. along with the co-contractors Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co. Ltd. (England) and Hochtief AG (Germany). 35 engineers and 400 men worked on the project. It was completed on October 30, 1973, one day after the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, and opened by President Fahri Korutürk and Prime Minister Naim Talu. Ernest Frederick, a civil engineer working for the US government and stationed in Turkey at the time, was the first American to cross the bridge. American comedian and Ambassador for UNICEF Danny Kaye, dressed like a clown, followed him with a pack of Turkish children. As a huge crowd of people started to run after them, the bridge came in vibration, and the crowd had to be held back to avoid any damage. The cost of the bridge amounted to USD 200 million.
The highway bridge has three lanes for vehicular traffic plus one emergency lane and one sidewalk in each direction. On weekday mornings, commuter traffic flows mostly westbound to the European part, so four of the six lanes run westbound and only two eastbound. Conversely, on weekday evenings, four lanes are dedicated to eastbound traffic and two lanes only to westbound. In the first four years, pedestrians could walk over the bridge, reaching it with elevators inside the towers on both sides. No pedestrians and commercial vehicles like trucks are allowed to use the bridge today. Nowadays, around 180,000 vehicles are passing daily in both directions, almost 85% being automobiles. On December 29, 1997, the one-billionth vehicle passed the bridge. Fully loaded, the bridge sags about 90cm in the middle of the span.
It is a toll bridge, and a toll plaza with 13 toll booths is situated after the bridge on the Asian side. Toll is paid for one way passing from the European side to the Asian side. Since 1999, some of the toll booths (#9 - #13), located to the far left as motorists approach them, are unmanned and equipped only with remote payment system (Turkish: OGS) in order to enable fast through passing. In addition to OGS, another toll pay system with special magnetic cards (Turkish: KGS) was put in service for use at specific toll booths in 2005. From April 03, 2006, toll booths will accept only KGS and OGS. Cash payments from this date will be accepted only at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge, about five kilometres to the north.
The traditional international Eurasia Marathon, organized annually in October, starts from the Anatolian part of Istanbul, crosses the Bosphorus on the bridge and ends in the European part during which the bridge is closed to the vehicular traffic. Visitors to Istanbul in October can sign up for the ‘fun run’ at many points round the city and take the opportunity to cross the bridge by foot - many take picnics to enjoy the view.
Jumping from the bridge is a rather common method to commit suicide. In 2001, 146 persons attempted to jump from the two Bosphorus bridges, and 24 of them lost their lives. In 2002, 38 persons died after 190 suicide attempts by jumping.
Trivia
On May 15, 2005 at 7.00 local time, U.S. tennis star Venus Williams played a show game with Turkish standout İpek Şenoğlu on the bridge, the first tennis match ever to be played on two continents. The event was organized as a promotion ahead of the 2005 WTA’s Istanbul Cup and lasted five minutes only on the north side of the bridge. After the exhibition, they both threw each a tennis ball into the Bosphorus. On July 17, 2005 at 10.30 local time, British Formula One driver David Coulthard drove his Red Bull racing car on the bridge first from the European side to the Asian side, and then turning with a spectacular powerslide at the toll plaza back to the European side for show. He parked his car in the garden of Dolmabahçe Palace where his ride had started. During his ride to the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Racing Circuit on August 21, 2005, David Coulthard was picked up by the automatic surveillance system and charged with a fine of 20 Euros when he passed through the toll booths without payment, as only the president, traffic police and emergency workers have the right to cross the bridge for nothing. His team accepted to pay for him.
