Alçıtepe, also known by its former name, Krithia (), is a small village in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on a commanding high plateau, about 4 miles from

Cape Helles Cape Helles is the rocky headland at the southwesternmost tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. It was the scene of heavy fighting between Ottoman Turkish and British troops during the landing at Cape Helles at the beginning of the Gallipo ...

, the tip of the Thracian Chersonesos, now

Gallipoli Peninsula The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

. It is part of the

Eceabat District Eceabat District is a district of the Çanakkale Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Eceabat.Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province () is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Its area is 9,817 km2, and its population is 559,383 (2022). Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province ...

. Its population is 433 (2021). Krithia was named after the grain "krithos", which in Greek means "barley"; a nearby cape was also called Krithea (Κριθέα) in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

times, now Akbaş Burnu. In the ''Book of Navigation'' of the Ottoman admiral

Piri Reis Muhiddin Piri ( 1470 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis (), was an Ottoman cartographer, admiral, navigator, corsair, and geographer. He is primarily known today for his cartographic works, including his 1513 world map and the '' Kitab-ı ...

(1521), it is recorded as Kirte. At the turn of the 20th century, about 450 Greek families lived in the village. In October 1914, a military mission arrived at the village. Turkish soldiers with fixed bayonets surrounded the village and forced the evacuation of each house in turn. Then, under the eyes of their officers, they seized everything they could lay their hands on. Stripped of everything they possessed, the inhabitants in despair had to seek refuge in

Madytos Madytos () is a former municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Volvi, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 2,045 in 2021. The municipal unit has ...

. During the Gallipoli campaign, the village was an objective of the first day of the

landing at Cape Helles The landing at Cape Helles () was part of the Gallipoli campaign, the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Cape Helles, Helles, at the foot of the peninsula, wa ...

on 25 April 1915; it was never reached. Over the following months, Ottoman defenders successfully repulsed several assaults by Allied troops. More famously, the village was the site of the

Battle of Krithia During the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, several battles were fought near the village of Krithia, today Alçıtepe. The village was an objective of the first day of the landing, 25 April 1915. Over the following months, invading British Empire (in ...

during the same campaign. As a result, the settlement suffered extensive damage due to shelling: the two Greek churches were destroyed, and only few traces of its medieval and ancient past remain, such as a column in the village square or architectural elements reused as

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin for 'spoils'; : ''spolium'') are stones taken from an old structure and repurposed for new construction or decorative purposes. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice (spoliation) whereby stone that has been quar ...

. Following the departure of the Greek population in the

Greco-Turkish population exchange The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...

, the village was resettled with

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

from Bulgaria in 1938.

References

Sources

*
First Battle of Krithia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcitepe Villages in Eceabat District Gallipoli campaign Former Greek towns in Turkey