Ulu körpü, Stone road bridge near Ilisu village, Azerbaijan.
Ulu körpü is an arch bridge over the Kürmükçay (Kurmukh) River, about two kilometres from Ilisu village in the Gakh region. Its 14.6-metre arch is laid in four rows of thin fired brick on a lime mortar, while the rest of the structure is river cobblestone, with dressed stones above the face of the arch. The right bank is bounded by a mountain and the left by a large rock; the roadway is 4.85 metres wide.
Ulu körpü served as the only crossing linking Ilisu with the lowlands during the Ilisu Sultanate. Local mason N. Yu. Magerramov dated its construction to the turn of the 19th–20th centuries and attributed it to the folk master Omar. An earlier bridge once stood slightly upstream; the present structure inherited its name. Repairs after floods are visible in the differing masonry boundaries above the arch.
The bridge reflects the craftsmanship of stone workers who built structures designed to last through harsh mountain conditions. It remains a point of pride for residents who relied on it as a vital link between their community and the outside world.
The bridge is located about 2 kilometers from Ilisu village and can be reached by local minibuses from the town. The site is best visited during drier months when water levels are lower and the surrounding paths are more accessible for walking around the structure.
The name Ulu körpü means "Big Bridge" in Azerbaijani, and it was inherited from an earlier bridge slightly upstream that no longer survives. Some authors, among them Ilya Adamiya, wrongly called it the "Bridge of Tamara" and a Georgian single-arch bridge of the 12th to 14th centuries; later research refuted this.
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