971 m long aqueduct bridge with 86 arches. This bridge was built as part of the Valens Waterway (‘aqueduct system’), a second line that supplemented the already existing Hadrian Waterway due to the increasing need to sustain Constantinople’s growing population. The Valens-line, in contrast to its predecessor, provided water for the more elevated parts of the city. The Valens aqueduct bridge carried water across the valley between Fourth and Third Hill (Image xxx) at an altitude of 56-57 m above sea level. Aqueduct bridges like this one were necessary to carry the water over lower valleys, because the waterway systems were gravity-led.
Today, the Valens aqueduct bridge is known as the Bozdoğan Kemeri (Turkish: ‘Aqueduct of the Grey Falcon’). Its top bridge has been capped with modern cement as the Aqueduct bridge was relieved of its actual function in the 20th century.
