Valens Aqueduct (Bozdoğan Kemeri) and Atatürk/Unkapanı Bridge (Atatürk/Unkapanı Köprüsü).
Valens Aqueduct was ordered to be built by the Emperor Constantitus II but finished and started to function under the reign of Emperor Valens I in the 4th century to supply water to Istanbul (Constantinople – the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire then). Therefore, it was named as Valens Aqueduct. During the Crusades, the Aqueduct was seriously damaged and was not used until the Ottomans. However, the Aqueduct system provided water to the city for about 15 centuries, during Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empire periods until 18th century. The Aqueduct was approximately 970 meters long and 30 meters high and used to bring water about 240 kilometers far from Istanbul. Majority of it still stands today, only 50 meters shorter than its original length. Valens Aqueduct supplied clean water for the baths and cisterns of the city, including Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı).
Today Atatürk Boulevard passes under the arches of Valens Aqueduct. Unkapanı is home to Atatürk Boulevard and Atatürk/Unkapanı Bridge is a bridge on the Golden Horn and connects the historical peninsula to Beyoğlu district. The original wooden bridge was completed in 1836 and was replaced by an iron bridge in 1875, both of which were designed to open in the middle for ship traffic in and out of the Golden Horn. The construction of the current bridge (Atatürk Bridge) was started in 1936 and completed in 1940 and renovated in 2021. It is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and the First President of the Republic of Turkey.
If you want to visit Valens Aqueduct, getting there is easy from Happy Homes Istanbul. You can take metro and get off Istanbul University stop, the Aqueduct is about 10-minute walk away.
