Old wooden bridge built without using nails

About how the ancient people managed to build the Egyptian pyramids or other large-scale and complex architectural structures, controversy is still ongoing. A high and unusually strong bridge in Dagestan, built of wood, figuratively speaking, without a single nail – even if not as famous and not as grandiose as the same Egyptian pyramids, but this does not cease to be the same mysterious. When did it appear here and how did the local ancient people, the Tabasaran, manage to build it?

The bridge can easily support the car. Skeptics believe that this bridge is no more than 200 years old, attributing its construction to the 19th century, but many local residents argue that this wooden structure has stood here longer – they heard from their ancestors that it was 700-800 years old.

The bridge is located near the village of Gulli (another pronunciation is Juli) of the Tabasaran region of Dagestan, and it can rightfully be considered a historical monument, as well as an architectural monument.

Despite the fact that the bridge is very old (even if we assume that it is not 800, but 200 years old, for a wooden building it is still a long time), it still looks grandiose. Moreover, the design is very reliable. Ancient old people remember that once on this bridge, bulls with heavy carts regularly walked, but now it calmly withstands a passenger car. The height of the building is about ten meters.

The bridge is made of wooden logs and thick beams – it seems as if this giant was playing a giant construction set. By the way, the metal bracket, which can be seen on one side of the bridge (it appeared here obviously later than the structure itself) does not play any functional role. Why they put it here is unclear.

It is known that the bridge was built by local residents, having only wood and stone at their disposal. And we can only admire their skill and engineering ingenuity.

Tabasarany is a large people living in Dagestan. A number of researchers believe that this name is of Iranian origin. In the Middle Ages, on the southern coast of the Caspian, where Iran is now located, there was a state called Tabaristan. The word “tabar” from the Persian language Farsi is translated as “ax”.

According to historians, local residents called themselves “Tabasaranar” only when communicating with neighboring peoples, in other words, this was their official name. Among themselves, they talked about their people “kapgan” and “gum-gum” (these were two branches of the same tribe).

According to another version, Tabasaran, as a separate people, originated in Caucasian Albania – a large empire that arose in the first centuries BC. At that time they were good warriors, but when the need to fight disappeared, the Tabasaranes switched to peaceful professions, taking up cattle breeding, various types of crafts, and in the plains – gardening and growing grapes.

It is interesting that in the old days Tabasaran did not make pompous houses. Their buildings were one-two-story and had flat roofs, while the walls and the floor were coated with special clay.

But the houses were solid, solid, on a good foundation. And so that the tenants of the house never had to experience troubles and hardships, after laying the foundation, the builders placed a vessel at the corner of the future building, facing Mecca. In it, according to popular belief, it was necessary to put a tiny piece of gold or silver, coins (a symbol of wealth) and grain (a symbol of fertility). There was also a practice to put jugs of clean water in the corners of the foundation – as a symbol of life, health, purity.

Since the Tabasaran region is the leader in the number of forests in Southern Dagestan (in fact, half of the territory is occupied by forests), there was no shortage of building materials among the architects who erected the wooden bridge.

By the way, the nature here is so beautiful that these lands are even called “Dagestan Switzerland”.