Palace Bridge

The Palace Bridge is built just above the Tunca River in Sarayiçi, one of the most important areas of Edirne. The bridge is also referred as the Kanuni Bridge. The Palace Bridge is said to be built by Suleyman the magnificent in 1560. At that time, Kanuni commissioned Mimar Sinan to build Libra and Justice Kasrı in addition to this work. However, there is no certainty about this issue. The bridge is made up of chipped stone material and is around 80 metres in total. The Kanuni or Palace Bridge is closed to traffic as of today. Therefore, visitors can easily walk on it. Immediately at the end of the Palace Bridge, there is the square place reserved for the famous ‘Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling’. The spectators, which occurred during the period of Wrestling, also show intense interest in the Palace Bridge. The Justice Council itself is very close to this area. The bridge will only take a year to build. Its total length is around 60 metres. The road width is measured as 4.5 meters. The eye parts of the bridge are located on both sides of the foot in the middle. The Palace Bridge is one of the four-eyed bridges. Bridge feet do not currently have draining eyes. It is recorded that the Palace Bridge was severely damaged in the great flood of 1902. The last major repair to the bridge took place in 2006. The bridge serves as an important link between Sarayiçi and Tunca Island. This is exactly why the people call it ‘Palace Bridge’ instead of ‘Kanuni Bridge’. The Kanuni Bridge, which is one of the most beautiful bridges in Edirne, is also considered one of the masterpieces of Mimar Sinan. So it fills the eye with its place in the glory of simplicity. As of today, the bridge is officially connected to the General Directorate of Highways. The structure, in which smooth cut stones are preferred in its construction, attracts attention with its pointed arches.