Besleti Bridge
   Photo: Besleti Bridge

Besleti Bridge as an important strategic military facility has been used in all probability, in the XI-XII centuries. This is evidenced not only by its architecture, but also the results of the study inscriptions on the stone side edge of the bridge, performed on ancient Georgian Asomtavruli, with the text of the Christian content.

As proven by historians who study this region, through the valley of the river Besletka (Basle) held an important transport route connecting several valleys. Due to the mountainous nature of local rivers, fording a large number of people and goods has been very difficult or impossible during the snowmelt in the mountains, so the only solution was the construction of the bridge.

Bridge over Besletku or Queen Tamar Bridge, was built according to the canons of architectural art in the form of a single-span stone (that is, without reference) arch. Difficult was the local stone of limestone, each plate arch gave a wedge shape, and after removal of the formwork the central plate is compressed between the stronger, the large load is applied to them. Sam has a span length of 13 meters, and with abutments whole length of the bridge is 35 meters. The surface of the carriageway is raised above the water by almost 9 meters, which significantly reduces the value of the slope of the road on both sides of the bridge, and a five-meter width can be used for two-lane.

Despite the eight centuries of its existence entirely non-museum in the harsh mountain conditions, the bridge and now it has a resolution capacity of 8 tons. The secret of his longevity, not only in art designers, but also the ability of builders who were able to pick up the stone material of sufficient strength. In addition, the stone at the time placed on the mortar with the addition of egg white, which gave him tremendous strength and durability.

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