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![[Flag]](../images/t/tr-03-bo21.gif)
image by Tomislav Šipek,
3 January 2022
See also:
The new flag is also white with a new logo.
http://hizmet-is.org.tr/haberler/genel-baskan-yardimcimiz-ozdemir-bolvadin-belediye-baskani-kayacani-ziyaret-etti/
Tomislav Šipek, 3 January 2022
The municipality of Bolvadin (43,398 inhabitants in 2018, 32,475 in the town
of Bolvadin; 111,500 ha) is located 50 km east of Afyonkarahisar, west of Lake
Eber.
The logo features historical Kırkgöz bridge, which is named after
the word “kirk” expressing the notion of multiplicity in Turkish mythology. The
bridge is positioned over the Akarçay (Kaystros) that pours into Lake Eber,
which is located 7 km south of the Bolvadin (Polybotum) district along the
Anatolian Caravan Road. Historical King’s Way, which is mentioned in many
military and commercial journeys, also passes along this bridge. Silk Road,
which starts from China, passing Middle Asia and reaching Anatolia over Persia,
also passes along Kırkgöz Bridge.
Although it has not been possible to
reach definite findings regarding the exact date of its construction, the first
sources that mention this bridge are Hittite tablets kept in Ankara ProAsia
Civilizations Museum. Accordingly, King Mursil II used this bridge in 1344 BC
for the Arzava Crusade.
This bridge has witnessed a number of crusades, wars,
processions, destructions, restorations, additions and interventions. In 401 BC,
Cyrus, Anatolian governor of Persia, reportedly passed this bridge with his
armies of more than tens of thousands of soldiers. In 133 AD, Roman Emperor
Hadrian dropped by Polybotum during his visit to Anatolia. A coin was minted to
commemorate this visit and statues of the emperor were erected all over the
city. Hadrian improved the bridge alongside the city. Byzantine Emperor Ramnos
Diogenes repaired the bridge, along with the roads in 1070, which were damaged
by the Crusaders in 1097, and repaired again in 1150 by Emperor Manuel Doukas.
After the incorporation in 1362 of Bolvadin to the Ottoman Empire by Sultan
Murat I, Kırkgöz bridge was used by subsequent sultans in all their eastern
crusades. In 1534, Suleiman the Magnificent passed the bridge on his way to
Baghdad and commissioned in 1550 architect Sinan in to repair it. The number of
arches was increased up to 64 and a prayer area was added to the Bolvadin side.
Roads changed in 1895 after the opening of the Berlin-Baghdad railway. The
Sogutlu Road, which connected Bolvadin to Kırkgöz, lost its significance. The
New Station Road was opened and Develi Bridge was widened. Kırkgöz Bridge lost
its function and was eventually abandoned after 1970.
The bridge is
composed of three separate sections that have been constructed in different
historical periods. The bridge previously had 64 arches but today it has a total
of only 56. Eight arches were demolished by the State Hydraulic Works in the
Republican period, during the formation of the new Akarçay river course towards
the north of the existing course.
The oldest part of the bridge, from the
Roman period, is located on the Akarçay river course. Starting from the 23rd
arched opening from the east, this section has in total 15 round arches, ending
at the 37th arch opening on the east. The distances of arch openings and wall
construction techniques change at this section. The arches are made of large
basalt stones and have circular shapes. This type of arched bridge is observed
in the early stages of the Roman Empire period.
The west part of the bridge
starting from 38th arched opening, with 19 arches, is from the Seljuk period.
The arched openings have different sizes, usually in double-centered pointed
tangent shape. The span of the arches increases and rises towards the middle
section of the bridge. The 41st arch from the east is the highest and the most
extensive arched opening at this section.
What survives to the south of the
old bridge shows that originally the road was on the low ground and that later
the annual flooding of Lake Eber raised the bed of the marsh and made the
construction of the embankment imperative.
Z. Akdemir & G. Sener. 2010.
The assessment of Kırkgöz Bridge in the context of sustainable, cultural and
architectural heritage.
WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 142
117-129.
Ivan Sache, 4 January 2022
![[Flag]](../images/t/tr-03-bo.png)
image by Tomislav Šipek, 14 April 2015
The [former] flag of Bolvadin (photo) is white with the municipality's emblem, featuring a stymized poppy capsule. "Belediye Başkanlığı" means "Municipality Presidency".
Bolvadin is located in a main area of poppy growing.
Dried opium poppy fruits (capsules) are worked up to isolate morphine at
the Opium Alkaloids Factory in Bolvadin. Morphine consists of 68-70% of
total alkaloids in the fruitd. The remaining 30-32% of alkaloids are
just wasted. The factory has the capacity to work up annually 20,000 t
of poppy capsules. The factory consists of two main units. In the
Alakaloid Extraction Unit only base morphine is produced. In the
adjacent Derivatives Unit half of the morphine extracted is converted to
morphine hydrochloride, morphine sulphate, ethylmorphine hydrochloride.
These alkaloids are sold after pharmacopoeial compliance is achieved.
[K. Hüsnü Can Bser & N. Arslan. 2014. Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Pp. 305-330 in Z. Yaniv & N. Dudai (Eds.) Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Middle-East. Springer]
Tomislav Šipek & Ivan Sache, 18 November 2017
Bolvadin Chamber of Commerce and Industry
![[Flag]](../images/t/tr-03$bo.gif)
Flag of the Bolvadin Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Image by Ivan Sache, 2 September 2019
The flag of the Bolvadin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (photo, photo) is white with the organization's emblem.
Ivan Sache, 2 September 2019
Bolvadin Commodity Exchange
![[Flag]](../images/t/tr-03$b1.gif)
Flag of the Bolvadin Commodity Exchange - Image by Ivan Sache, 18 November 2017
The flag of the Bolvadin Commodity Exchange (photo, photo) is white with the organization's logo.
Ivan Sache, 18 November 2017
