Çobandede Bridge is a historical bridge in Turkey.
Location
The bridge is at to the east of Köprüköyilçe of Erzurum Province.. The bridge is situated at the point where two tributaries of Aras River meet. It is on the road from Erzurum to Muş. Currently Çobandede Bridge is out of service and the Turkish state highway is over a parallel bridge about east of Çobandede Bridge.
History
In 1865 a priest, Archimandrite Timeteos, copied an inscription in Armenian that was on the bridge. It read "this bridge, founded by the Armenians, was repaired by the Magistros under the auspices of the monastery of Sourb Astvatzatzin and the castle of Darun in the year 609". In 1904, Kajberuny saw this inscription, and two others in Arabic, saying that they were located above the arches on the eastern side of the bridge. He noted that the Armenian one had been almost erased, deliberately by hammer blows, and that only the word "repaired" was now clearly legible. Neither the Armenian inscription or the two Arabic inscriptions currently survive on the bridge. A fourth inscription, not seen by Kajberuny, in Arabic, still survives but in a worn and damaged condition. It is located on the bridge's parapet. Raffi Kortoshian opinions that it may have been inserted into the bridge sometime after 1904. About the "Magistros" mentioned in the inscription, Kortoshian writes that it may be the family title used by descendants of Grigor Magistros. He was buried in Sourb Astvatzatzin monastery close to nearby Pasinler ; Darun has been identified as either Hasankale or Dogubayazit. Turkish researchers write it was constructed during the Mongol occupation of Anatolia towards the end of the 13th century.
Technical details
The building material is cut stone with three different colors. The total length of the bridge is. In the original design the bridge had seven arches. But one of the arches is now buried underground. Currently the width of the six remaining arches are;,,,, and There are eight chambers in the abutments
