The image is for representation purposes only.
If we go by the online reports, the bridge was built on the order of the Roman emperor Constantine I and opened in AD 328. The bridge was over 2 kilometers long and a remarkable feat of engineering in ancient times.
“Nature for some time exposes an object which is hidden under the Danube most of the time,” said Pavel Popov from the Regional Historical Museum in Pleven, describing the conditions as especially valuable for archaeological research to Reuters. Sucidava, on the other side of the Danube in present-day Romania, was linked to it, and to the ancient city of Ulpia Oescus in modern northern Bulgaria. It is considered one of the longest bridges of the ancient world, but it did not last very long. Historical evidence indicates that a large part of the bridge was destroyed around A.D. A series of record-breaking heatwaves across Europe this summer has contributed to severe drought in parts of the continent, states Reuters. Major waterways like the Danube and Rhine are experiencing unusually dry conditions. The water level has fallen, exposing parts of the foundations of the Constantine Bridge near the village of Gigen in northern Bulgaria. The brief exposure offered archaeologists a rare chance to study the remains in their natural setting.
The Constantine Bridge is more than a spectacular find in archaeology. Its brief appearance is a rare opportunity for researchers to study an ancient structure normally buried beneath the Danube. Eventually the water levels will rise again and much of the bridge will be out of sight. But the photographs, maps and measurements made during this period could retain important facts about one of the Roman Empire’s most impressive engineering achievements.