Taşköprü, or the Stone Bridge, is a stone three-arch bridge over the Kars River (a tributary of the

Aras River , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

) river, northwest of Kars city center and directly south of Kars castle. The bridge was built in 1579 of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

basalt blocks as part of a program of works in Kars by Lala Mustafa Pasha, who became Sultan Murad III's

grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

the following year. This bridge was subsequently destroyed by a flood, and it was rebuilt in 1719 (some records say 1725) by Karahanoğlu Haci Ebubekir Bey. It was restored by the 18th Region of the Highways Directorate in 2013.

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{{Bridges in Turkey Deck arch bridges Ottoman bridges in Turkey Buildings and structures in Kars Province Stone bridges in Turkey Tourist attractions in Kars Province Arch bridges in Turkey