Low Danube Exposes 2-km Roman Constantine Bridge Foundations in Bulgaria
Updated
Updated · The Jerusalem Post · Aug 11
Low Danube Exposes 2-km Roman Constantine Bridge Foundations in Bulgaria
3 articles · Updated · The Jerusalem Post · Aug 11
Summary
Bulgarian archaeologists used drones and aerial photography to document newly exposed foundations of the Constantine Bridge near Gigen, a rare chance to study remains usually hidden beneath the Danube.
Record-breaking European heatwaves drove severe drought and exceptionally low river levels, exposing parts of the bridge commissioned by Emperor Constantine I and inaugurated in 328 CE.
The structure linked Ulpia Oescus with Sucidava in present-day Romania and stretched more than 2 km, making it one of antiquity's longest bridges before it was largely destroyed around 367 CE.
Receding Danube waters have also uncovered other finds across the region, including at least 20 sunken World War II German warships near Serbia and mammoth remains in northern Bulgaria.