Where is the Varda Viaduct in Turkey?
The Varda Viaduct stands in Hacıkırı, also called Kıralan, in the Karaisalı district of Adana province. It carries a railway across a deep valley in the Taurus Mountains. Its location belongs to the Baghdad Railway route between Konya and Adana. If you are looking for Varda Viaduct in Turkey, Hacıkırı is the local place name to keep beside Adana.
Its railway history, however, begins with the need to carry the Baghdad Railway across difficult mountain terrain. The valley explains why the structure stands here. The railway needed a crossing that could connect the route on either side.
Turkish Wikipedia places the bridge 64 kilometres from Adana by road through Karaisalı. It gives a separate railway distance of 63 kilometres from Adana Station. The Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia locates it about 16 kilometres west of Karaisalı town centre. These measurements use different starting points and routes, so they answer different travel questions.
Varda Viaduct, Adana: understanding the location
Hacıkırı and Belemedik belong to different districts. The bridge is in Hacıkırı, within Karaisalı. Belemedik is in Pozantı district. That distinction matters because Belemedik housed a construction settlement for people working on the Varda Viaduct and the Taurus railway tunnels. Their histories connect, but their locations should remain separate.
For planning your approach, Adana’s Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism publishes three map links. They begin at Çukurova International Airport, Adana Bus Terminal and Adana Railway Station. You can choose the starting point that matches your arrival. The official bridge page brings those three approaches together.
The difference between the road and railway distances is familiar from everyday journeys: your route to a station need not follow the tracks. Here, the quoted road distance runs through Karaisalı. The railway measurement begins at Adana Station. Keeping those endpoints attached to the numbers makes them more useful than a single distance labelled simply “from Adana.”
Why was the Varda Viaduct built?
The viaduct was built to take the Baghdad Railway across a deep valley in the Taurus Mountains. Its role was part of the route between Konya and Adana. The stone arches therefore belong to a railway crossing whose location was determined by the mountain landscape and the line passing through it.
German engineers and contractors were involved in construction. That association explains the name Alman Köprüsü, or German Bridge. Local names also include Koca Köprü and Hacıkırı Railway Bridge. Each points to the same structure. The Hacıkırı name is especially useful when connecting the bridge with its immediate location.
The project also involved Ottoman citizen and engineer Nikolas Mavrogordato, according to the Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia’s 2024 entry. English Wikipedia identifies Deutsche Bank as the financier and Philipp Holzmann as the construction company. These names distinguish the financing, contracting and engineering roles behind the bridge.
Varda Viaduct height: 98 or 99 metres?
Adana’s Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism gives the bridge’s length as 172 metres. It reports a height of 99 metres. English Wikipedia gives the height as 98 metres. When you quote its dimensions, the clearest approach is to keep the height attached to its source rather than present both figures as an agreed measurement.
The bridge follows a curve across the valley. Its railway alignment therefore matters alongside its height and length. The track does not cross the valley on a straight bridge deck.
Turkish Wikipedia describes three main spans supported by four main piers. English Wikipedia counts 11 openings across the natural-stone arched structure. Those descriptions concern different parts of the bridge’s arrangement: one identifies the principal spans and supports, while the other gives the total number of openings.
When was the Varda Viaduct built?
The official Adana tourism page dates construction to 1907–1912. English Wikipedia’s main text presents a longer sequence. It places the start in 1905, completion of the main works in 1907 and completion of technical details in 1912. It then dates the beginning of railway service to 1916.
These accounts do not assign the same meaning to every year. In particular, 1907 appears as both a beginning and an endpoint for different stages. The distinction between construction and railway service also matters. A bridge’s completion date and the opening of the railway over it are separate milestones in the English Wikipedia account.
Timeline
- 1905: English Wikipedia’s main text dates the start of viaduct construction to this year.
- 1906: The Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia records the placement of two marble blocks, each weighing four tonnes, within the bodies of two main piers.
- 1907: English Wikipedia dates completion of the main works to this year. Adana’s tourism directorate uses it as the beginning of its construction period.
- 1912: The official Adana account dates completion to this year. English Wikipedia connects it with the completion of technical details.
- 1916: English Wikipedia dates the start of railway service over the bridge to this year.
- 16 August 2016: Karaisalı District Governorate documented work on a walking route, viewing terraces and connecting bridges between Varda and Kapıkaya Canyon.
- 23 May 2025: Anadolu Agency reported the Erciyes Express crossing the viaduct on its Adana–Kayseri route.
Details you won’t find in guidebooks
Stairways run inside the bridge’s four main piers. They were provided for maintenance work. The piers therefore contain practical access arrangements as well as supporting the principal spans. This internal feature adds another layer to the structure you see above the valley.
The Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia describes a cableway installed between the slopes of Alçak Gedik and Hacıkırı. It carried stones up to the tops of the piers. This construction detail connects the finished masonry with the problem of moving building material across the site and lifting it into position.
The same encyclopedia records two marble blocks placed in two main pier bodies in 1906. Each weighed four tonnes. That dated detail belongs beside the broader disagreement over construction years. It records an event within the work without settling every difference between the published chronologies.
Construction also cost lives. Adana’s Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism reports that 21 workers and one German engineer died from various causes during the work. Those deaths form part of the bridge’s construction history alongside its engineering and financing.
Belemedik’s railway construction settlement contained a hospital, a school and church buildings. It housed people working on the viaduct and Taurus tunnels. These buildings place the railway project within a settlement that supported working lives beyond the bridge site itself.
Where does the name Varda come from?
A story connects Varda with workers calling out “var daha.” İNTES presents this account in Rayların Anlattığı as a legend whose accuracy is disputed. It should be treated as a naming story rather than an established explanation of the word’s origin.
The same book gives the name found in company records as Giaur Dere Viadukts. That recorded wording belongs to a different kind of evidence from the workers’ call story. Alongside German Bridge, Koca Köprü and Hacıkırı Railway Bridge, it shows the several names associated with the structure.
Varda Viaduct photos: what to look for
If you are studying Varda Viaduct photos, look for the curved railway alignment and the stone arches. Then distinguish the three main spans from the total of 11 openings described by English Wikipedia. These features give you specific details to identify, beyond the overall height of the crossing.
The surrounding visitor landscape also has a documented history. Karaisalı District Governorate’s statement of 16 August 2016 records work between the bridge and Kapıkaya Canyon. It lists a walking route, viewing terraces and connecting bridges. The statement documents those works at that date.
The viaduct’s railway role extends into a much later account. On 23 May 2025, Anadolu Agency reported the Erciyes Express crossing it between Adana and Kayseri. That report connects the historic stone structure with a named railway service and a dated crossing.
FAQ
Where is the Varda Viaduct in Turkey?
It stands in Hacıkırı, also called Kıralan, in the Karaisalı district of Adana province. The bridge carries the Baghdad Railway route across a deep valley in the Taurus Mountains.
How high and long is the Varda Viaduct?
Adana’s Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism gives its length as 172 metres and its height as 99 metres. English Wikipedia reports a height of 98 metres.
When was the Varda Viaduct built?
Adana’s Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism dates construction to 1907–1912. English Wikipedia describes work beginning in 1905, main works ending in 1907, technical completion in 1912 and railway service beginning in 1916.
Why is it also called the German Bridge?
The name refers to the German engineers and contractors involved in its construction. Other local names include Koca Köprü and Hacıkırı Railway Bridge.
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia — Varda Köprüsü tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia — Varda Viaduct en.wikipedia.org
- Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia — Varda (Alman) Köprüsü turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com
- Adana Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism — Varda Köprüsü adana.ktb.gov.tr
- İNTES — Rayların Anlattığı, Volume I intes.org.tr
- Anadolu Agency — Almanların yıkık kenti turizm için ayağa kaldırılıyor aa.com.tr
- Karaisalı District Governorate — Adana’da Varda Var Projesi karaisali.gov.tr
- Anadolu Agency — Varda Köprüsü’nden geçen Erciyes Ekspresi aa.com.tr
Image: Varda Railway Viaduct, Karaisalı 01.JPG — Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0
