Stone Bridge (Beyşehir)

Taşköprü, translated to Stone bridge, is a combined regulator dam and bridge located in Beyşehir district of Konya Province, central Turkey.[1]

Taşköprü
Taşköprü as regulator dam.
Location of Taşköprü in Turkey
Country	Turkey
Location	Beyşehir, Konya Province
Coordinates	37°40′50.5″N 31°43′22″E
Purpose	Flood control, irrigation
Status	Operational
Construction began	1908
Opening date	1914 (1914)
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Arch dam
Impounds	Beyşehir-Soğla-Apa Canal
Length	42 m (138 ft)
Width (crest)	6.35 m (20.8 ft)

Taşköprü as pedestrian bridge.

It was constructed as a flood barrier as part of the irrigational Konya Plain Project on the ground of a ruined 8–10 arched bridge between 1908 and 1914.[2][3] Its completion was delayed due to repeated flooding at the Lake Beyşehir. The dam was commissioned by Albanian Ottoman Grand Vizier Mehmed Ferid Pasha of Vlorë (in office 1903–1908), (Turkish: Avlonyalı Ferid Paşa).[1] Regulated water draining off the lake contributed to the rise of the formerly droughty and quaggy Konya Plain into a "granary".[1][2]

Taşköprü is situated over the Beyşehir-Soğla-Apa Canal close to the Lake Beyşehir. The 42 m (138 ft)-long and 6.35 m (20.8 ft)-wide ashlar-masonry combined dam-bridge structure has two level of 15 arches and floodgates.[3] The bridge was initially open to motorized traffic. After the building of a new road bridge west of it, Taşköprü is used today as a pedestrian bridge only.[2]

With effect on July 12, 1980, the historic monumental structure was put under protection by the Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Board.[1][3]