The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, recognized as the world’s longest suspension bridge, stretches across the Dardanelles Strait and represents a significant infrastructural achievement. It connects the European and Asian continents within Turkey, offering a swift passage that eliminates the need for a traditional ferry journey that normally lasts about an hour and a half.
Standing at 2,023 meters (6,637 feet) between the two towers, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge is now the largest suspension bridge in the world.
“Turkey has overtaken Japan, which has the longest bridge in the world in terms of the midspan, and has taken the first place,” said President Erdogan during the inauguration, report AP News.
The bridge took almost five years to construct and was built by both Turkish and South Korean companies to strengthen ties between the two nations, costing $2.7 billion (£2.06 billion). It is now the only motorway in Turkey that links both Europe and Asia outside of Istanbul, and the journey itself takes just 6 minutes.
The bridge connects Gelibolu, on the European side and Lapseki on the Asian side. Its name – 1915 Çanakkale Bridge – references a major naval victory of the Ottoman Empire over British forces during World War I as the Brits attempted to take control of the strait.
An earlier version of this article was published in March 2023.
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