engleski

The wooden bridge over the wetland between Osijek and Darda in Croatia

During May 2008, while the workers of the local authorities of Darda were cleaning the fish-pond near the baroque castle Esterhazy, the wooden piles were taken out together with the sediment. It has been established that they are supposed to be a part of a bigger wooden construction. According to data from historical sources one may be talking about the famous Suleiman Bridge connecting Osijek and Darda, built in 1566 and demolished in 1686. The bridge was built by the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent and was constructed over the river Drava of joined boats, while it was a construction of the piles tiled with wood over the marshland. The main reason for its construction was the need of the big Ottoman Army to cross over on their way to conquer Szeged. In the course of underwater archaeological research the team divers found 115 wooden piles at the bottom of the fish-pond, most of which are in situ, while a fewer number, visible at the bottom, has been moved during dredging or widening of the fish-pond. After the comparison with 17 th and 18 th century maps, which prove the existence of the mentioned bridge, it has been established that direction of the bridge on maps corresponds to the position of the Suleiman Bridge. The radiocarbon analysis has confirmed that the wood originates from the period between 1440 and 1650, which generally corresponds to the period of building the Suleiman bridge

Underwater, Bridge, Osijek, Suleiman

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