Valens aqueduct
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The Valens aqueduct (Turkish: Bozdoğan Kemeri) is an aqueduct in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey constructed by the Romans during the 4th century.
The aqueduct usually called that of Valens (328 – 378) was actually completed in 368 during the reign of this Eastern Roman emperor, but certainly planned and begun already in the time of Constantine the Great (272 - 337) or his son Constantius II (317 – 361). The aqueduct was built as part of a new water supplying system for Constantinople. Water from the Belgrade forest beyond the city was carried over the aqueduct to the center of the city around the Great Palace near the Hippodrome. It was in use throughout the Byzantine and most of the Ottoman time.
The aqueduct with double-tiered arches, which stretched the little valley between the two hills (Fatih and Süleymaniye) of the seven city hills Constantinople’s, was originally over 1,000 m long and 26.5 m high in the middle. The impressive structure, still intact, has today a length of 971 m and a maximum height of only 20 m, since the surrounding ground level has risen up to 6 m. It was used during the Ottoman period for one branch of the Halkalı water supply system and repaired during the time of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) and Mustafa II (1695 - 1703).
The Istanbul Municipality extensively repaired the Bozdoğan Kemeri in recent years by replacing cracked stones, and exposed the parts that were formerly below ground level to reveal the original brickwork technique. Today, it spans over a major avenue that runs through the old part of city connecting Atatürk Bridge on the Golden Horn with Aksaray quarter.
