2025, Art, books, History, Mysteries

This Week’s Rabbit Hole – Khaju Bridge

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As happens often, a book sent me down a rabbit hole last week.  Martyr by Kaven Akbar has been highly lauded recently – New York Times Bestseller & Best Book of the Year as well as finalist for the Waterstone Award.  4.2 rating on GoodReads and the same on Amazon.  Only 3 stars for me.  It was well written but the protagonist was exceedingly annoying and unbelievably full of himself.  It had a plot twist that I saw coming about a million miles away and the ending wasn’t very satisfying at all.  Oh well….

There was a good story embedded in it though about a Persian poet named Ferdowsi who wrote an epic poem in order to get money from the king to rebuild a bridge in his town.  Akbar ended this section saying that the king built a bridge like no other and it is known as the Poet’s Bridge.

You know this was more than I could resist.  Looked up Poet’s Bridge and discovered that there is such a bridge in Isfahan, Iran but it was built considerably later than Ferdowsi lived and is called Poet’s Bridge because “it has been a popular meeting spot and a source of inspiration for poets and artists, with many beautiful poems written about its beauty and the surrounding area.”  However Ferdowsi was a poet and wrote The Shahnameh, one of the world’s longest epic poems (50,000+ couplets) and the longest epic written by a single person.  Here is one of the most famous lines:

“Though you have little wealth, fear not the decree of fate; for the ocean of the sea was once a drop of rain.”

It was written between 977 and 1010 and there are some resources that suggest there may have been a bridge involved, but it’s pretty shadowy.  And clearly any bridge built in Ferdowsi’s time is not the Khaju Bridge which was built in the mid-17th century.   But the Khaju Bridge is gorgeous and is a significant landmark.  If Akbar had not named the bridge in his telling of the Ferdowsi story, I wouldn’t have found the Khaju Bridge.  Not sure if this was Akbar’s intention or not, but I’m glad it happened.

Any favorite bridges?  Do you have any worries about long, tall bridges?

61 thoughts on “This Week’s Rabbit Hole – Khaju Bridge”

  3. Pretty sure that many of us think about long, high bridges now. There was a time when I didn’t give them much thought, but I do now.

    I crossed the long bridge going to Sault Ste. Marie many years ago without any qualms. I think it would make me nervous now, especially if the weather was bad.

    I’ve crossed both the Bong Bridge and the Blatnik Bridge from Superior to Duluth. I prefer the Blatnik Bridge because it’s shorter in length and not as high. Still… I’m glad I can’t see over the edge.

    My mom used to love “gully bridges.” These were bridges on gravel roads in the countryside that crossed streams or railroad tracks. They were wooden and would rumble when you crossed them. This was one of our cheap family pastimes when I was a kid. We’d go to the DQ and then enjoy our cones in the car while driving somewhere to go cross the gully bridges. Many of these were in eastern Steele and southeastern Rice County. I don’t think there are any wooden gully bridges left in the area.

    My favorite bridge is the one I used to walk to when I grew up on Cannon Lake. It crosses “the narrows” between Cannon and Wells Lakes. It was a little less than a mile from our house to the bridge. Times were different then. I used to walk there in the middle of the night without any fear at all.

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    1. Our family had a similar DQ car ride routine, but we did not tour bridges. My farmer parents went out to monitor progress of field crops, especially corn. I would have preferred bridges.

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    The Sault St. Marie Bridge that Krista cites is a formidable bridge that is long, long,long. Another is the one in Newport Rhode Island. I crossed that one many years ago and never forgot the experience. My stomach was in knots.

    https://passportmagazine.com/seaside-splendor-and-simple-pleasures-newport-rhode-island/

    The picture does not reflect the experience of actually crossing it.

    A highway I enjoyed which also has many bridges was the one from Florida out to the Keys. That was a favorite road trip for me. There were bridges of all sizes. On a beautiful summer day the combination of ocean, beaches, islands, chickens, and bridges was idyllic

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  6. My hands down favorite is the Brooklyn Bridge. When I visit NYC, I try to work in a walk across it.
    On one very long walk, starting in Brooklyn Heights on the Promenade, there was a purple footprint. About every twenty yards was another one. Follow! This purple path took me all over lower Manhattan. Down to the Battery and back up to Greenwich Village where it stopped. I had to find my own way to Central Park.
    I recently read a book about WW2 researchers of the diving hazard, the “bends.” Part of it was about the construction of the Brooklyn Brooklyn and it’s designer/engineer family, the Roeblings. The father, John, died of tetanus as a result of an accident suffered while working on the bridge. His son, Washington, eventually took over but became incapacitated from a severe case of the “bends” while working on the deep caissons of the bridge. His wife, Emily, took over engineering the project to it’s completion.
    And now if any of you Baboons want to buy it…I take checks.

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      1. There were no indications as to who made them or for what purpose. It didn’t seem like anything official. All I can figure is that someone had a contraption on their leg that fed paint to their shoe. And it must have been done way early in the morning as few footprints got smudged before drying. New York artists are creative.

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  7. There was quite a rackety bridge over the Garrison Diversion that led to New Town, ND. Now there is a new one called The Four Bears Bridge, named after a famous tribal warrior.

    The scariest bridge was on Chesapeake Bay from Virginia to Maryland, since it also included undersea tunnels. You would emerge from a tunnel onto a bridge seemingly in the middle of the ocean, then descend into another tunnel.

    Daughter got our grandson a book about the collapse and rebuilding of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. He loved it!

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  8. And then there is this one which inspired an entire album and solidified a career:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=graffiti+bridge+eden+prairie&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS813US816&oq=Graffiti+Bridge+Eden+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIKCAQQABiiBBiJBTIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiABBiiBNIBCDgxMTRqMGo3qAIUsAIB4gMEGAEgX_EF_Cm8mwFqiijxBfwpvJsBaooo&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#vhid=DdpPcYdjOxX_3M&vssid=_2GXhZ-DkJsOa0PEPzO6xqQk_47

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  9. Lloyd might be my favorite Bridges. He was pretty good in “Sea Hunt,” “Airplane”, and the episode of “Seinfeld” where he played Izzy Mandelbaum. A tossup between Beau and Jeff for second fave Bridges. Jeff’s a better actor, I feel, but scary looking these days.

    Ohhhh, wait…. we’re talking about PHYSICAL bridges???? 😉

    Well, in that case, the Mackinac Bridge is pretty impressive.

    One we enjoyed crossing when we lived in Cloquet/Carlton and drove to Superior, WI was the old wooden railroad/auto bridge accessed from Gary New Duluth. County Rd. 39 from there, and it changed to CR 105 in Oliver, WI.

    The Golden Gate Bridge is pretty cool too. So iconic. I’ve never been to NYC, but I’d probably enjoy crossing all the bridges there.

    Oh, one more I remember from my youth. The Hennepin Ave bridge into SE Mpls. The deck was steel grating, and it “buzzed” when you drove across it. Always thought that was pretty cool.

    Chris in Owatonna

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      1. Yes, that might be the one we crossed when I was little and my family went through Mpls en route to my aunt’s house in Eagle River, Wisc. We went over some bridge that buzzed, and my sister named the waterway we crossed the Zippy River.

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    3. I stumbled on that old railroad bridge that crosses from Gary to Superior many years ago. I didn’t know what it was like when I went that direction. I freaked out a little because a train was crossing OVERHEAD right when I crossed. That’s one of those bridges you just have to experience.

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  10. Because I’m not crazy about heights, I’m not crazy about really tall bridges, but I never really worried about bridges until the I-35W bridge went down here. Like some of the other big historical moments that have happened in my lifetime, I remember right where I was when I heard about the collapse. Went over the Mendota Bridge last week and as usual I stayed on the inside lane.

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  13. I remember as a kid, we had to hold our breath going over the Mendota Bridge. It was a game to me; not sure where that came from or started. Sometimes I try it now, but as I’m usually driving, it’s a little more risky and I don’t push it.

    I have a book on the history of Bridges in MN, and that pretty interesting. I can’t believe how they built the Mendota Bridge in 1930’s!

    There’s a bridge in Charleston SC that seems to have much to short of sidewalls. Well, matter of fact, EVERY BRIDGE seems to have sidewalls that are too short!
    But that one is the one that started giving my the willies… I manage, but geez.

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        1. Because Feelin’ Grooving sounded stupid to Paul Simon. I have never walked the Queensbourgh Bridge. Maybe some day. It’s not high on my bucket list.

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  16. Anyone remember the old bridge in Wabasha that made the circle before crossing the River?
    When Kelly and I were first dating in 1986 we drove there to take the bridge. I knew of it but she never had. Must have closed shortly after that.

    Outside Of Zumbro Falls there was one of those old single lane iron girder bridges. I would take that whenever I could.

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  19. The scariest bridge I’ve been on is the Chesapeake Bay bridge. Husband was so nervous he drove on the inside lane; he couldn’t stand to look over the edge.

    I’ve always wanted to see the bridge of Avignon in France. The Golden Gate bridge is memorable; we went under it in a tour boat. I’ve walked across the Millennium Bridge in London and the Pont des Arts in Paris with all the padlocks left by couples. The Pont Alexandre is one of the prettiest I’ve seen.

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  22. London Bridge has a dark side.
    Children needed to be entombed in its foundations so as not fall down. Creepy versions of the song are available. Don’t bother looking. I’ve done it for you.

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