While on vacation in the village of Akyamaç in Hemşin, painter Serdar Abay and his secondary school student daughter Behice Betül Abay decided to clean the 150-year-old stone arch bridge. Over the years, the bridge had become covered with grass, ivy and moss and had been left idle. Using brushes, shovels and pickaxes, the father and daughter cleared the bridge of grass and ivy.
Serdar Abay said, “They did it very well 150 years ago. Over time, when the road was built, the forest covered the path that remained after the bridge. We were heartbroken when we came and went from here. This year, we found The opportunity. This is what we could do. The ivy that surrounded the bridge got in between the stones and moved the stones. We tried to save them from those roots.”
After the cleaning, the bridge started to attract more attention. Behice Betül Abay said, “When we were passing by here, it was as if we couldn’t see the bridge like this. It was very difficult to understand that it was a bridge. Guests were saying, ‘Was there a bridge here? We didn’t see any.’ That’s why we cleaned the bridge.”
It Received Great Attention on Social Media
Serdar Abay’s video of the cleaning moments recorded in time-lapse has attracted great attention on social media. The video, shared with the note “It gets more beautiful as you touch it”, was watched with admiration by nature lovers. Abay said, “I really think people are longing for this type of sensitivity. We didn’t do a big job. I’m sure many of those people would do the same thing if they were in our shoes.”
Behice Betül Abay also said, “I also like cleaning. I like it more when it is a historical artifact like this. I think the bridge should be cleaned regularly.”
