The Collection of Historical Bridges

This nomination is actually more interesting than it sounds on paper. I visited Dokhtar Bridge in the town of Pol-e-Dokhtar, which means “Bridge of the Daughter” so the town's name is the bridge.

I don't know what is older, the bridge or the sign to explain it. It is ancient but I suppose the bridge from the Sananian Empire (224 to 651 AD) probably beats it by 1,500 years. I even found an article on Livius.org that explains some parts, including the theory that it “is probably named after a daughter of the builder of this bridge, the Sasanian king Shapur I (r. 241-272)”.

The bridge is not in good shape today. The biggest remaining arch has the main road going through it. There are supposed to be 15 arcs left in total but I can only count 7 or 8 on the other side of the river. Parking myself next to the huge arc with a gravel road leading up, it bends around and then just drops off into the river. Scary that I'm allowed to walk up here without a warning sign, or shall I say thrilling that I can get up the edge of the bridge!? The path is filled with mud so maybe that was trying to put me off but it was frozen solid. There is actually safer parking on the other side of the arc next to the river and the you just have to run across the … hmm I did …