Three sections of Istanbul’s historic Galata Bridge go missing

ISTANBUL

It has been detected that three sections of Istanbul’s historic Galata Bridge, which was relocated to a new location 22 years ago, have gone missing. 

The three parts of the historic 12-section bridge, which holds a protected “2nd degree cultural heritage” status, were lost at some point in the 22 years since the bridge was detached from its original place and moved, daily Habertürk reported on Oct. 23.

The Galata Bridge, built in 1912, connected Istanbul’s historic peninsula with the opposite side of the Golden Horn until it was detached and moved in 1992.

The historic bridge was burned in suspicious circumstances on May 16, 1992, while it was waiting to be detached and reconstructed in a different location after a new Galata Bridge was built. The remaining sections were transferred further up the Golden Horn in a ceremony one week after the fire, though one of the pieces was dropped during this process.

Following the transfer, the bridge was reassembled at a different spot on the Golden Horn, connecting Balat and Hasköy. However, it has now emerged that the bridge was lacking three sections of the bridge when it was reassembled. The three missing section of the 102-year-old bridge had a combined width of 25 meters, a combined length of 74 meters, and weighed around 1,000 tons. The bridge’s reconstruction was not affected because the body of water was narrower at its new location.

It is not known what happened to the missing sections, though it is thought that they may have dropped into the water while the bridge was in transit to its new location.