Vize (; ; ) is a town in

Kırklareli Province Kırklareli Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province in northwestern Turkey on the west coast of the Black Sea. The province neighbours Bulgaria to the north along a long border. It borders the province of Edirne to the west and the provinc ...

in the Marmara region of

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 ...

. It is the seat of

Vize District Vize District is a district of the Kırklareli Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Vize.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 15,116 (2022). The mayor is Ercan Özalp ( CHP). The town's distance to the provincial centre is . Vize is situated on state road D.020, which runs from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

via Kırklareli. In 2012 Vize was designated a

Cittaslow Cittaslow is an organisation founded in Italy and inspired by the slow food movement. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life ...

(Slow City).

History

Antiquity

Under the ancient name of Bizya or Bizye () Vize served as a capital for the ancient

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

tribe of the

Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...

, and was mentioned by several ancient authors. From inscriptions it seems that during the late 1st century

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

Bizye was under local rule of the Sapians rather than under direct Roman control. The martyrs Memnon and Severos were killed in Bizye as part of the Diocletianic Persecution beginning in 303. In 353 CE, the exiled

Eustathius of Antioch Eustathius of Antioch, sometimes surnamed ''the Great'', was a Christian patriarch of Antioch in the 4th century. His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and ...

chose to settle in Bizye, where he later died. The city is documented as the seat of an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

, as a suffragan of Heraclea, as early as the 5th century.

Middle Ages

Beginning in the 6th century, water was piped from Bizye to Constantinople, and some of the pipes are still visible. In 773 or 774, the emperor

Constantine V Constantine V (; July 718 – 14 September 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Third Fitna, civil war ...

had a bridge built here. Bizye is described as a city (

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

) in the province of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in the ''

Synecdemus The ''Synecdemus'' or ''Synekdemos'' () is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of their cities. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian Justinia ...

'' of Hierocles, as well as later in the '' De Thematibus'' of

Constantine Porphyrogenitus Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

. The city appears to be identical with the "Uzusa" () mentioned by the

council in Trullo The Quinisext Council (; , literally meaning, ''Fifth-Sixth Meeting''), i.e., the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Jus ...

in 692, which was signed by one Geōrgios ''elachistos episkopos Uzusēs tēs Thrakōn chōras''. Since there is no signature for a representative of Bizye in the document, it is assumed that they are the same place.

Proto-Bulgarian Bulgar (also known as Bulghar, Bolgar, or Bolghar) is the extinct Oghur Turkic language spoken by the Bulgars. The name is derived from the Bulgars, a tribal association that established the Bulgar state known as Old Great Bulgaria in the mi ...

inscriptions indicate that Khan

Krum Krum (, ), often referred to as Krum the Fearsome () was the Khan of Bulgaria from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper a ...

captured and probably destroyed Bizye. During the 9th and 10th centuries the town served as the head of a

tourmarches A ''turma'' (; plural ''turmae''; ) was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrative divisions of a '' thema''. The word is often tran ...

. In the aftermath of

Thomas the Slav Thomas the Slav (, – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Emperor Michael II the Amorian (). An army officer of Slavic origin from the Pontus reg ...

's rebellion in 823, his stepson Anastasios attempted to take refuge in Bizye but was handed over by the city's residents to the emperor. The folk saint

Mary the Younger Saint Mary the Younger (, to distinguish her from Saint Mary of Egypt; 875 – 16 February 902) was a Byzantine saint of Armenian origin, the daughter of an Armenian noble.Paul Halsall, ''Medieval Sourcebook: Life of Mary the Younger, d.c. 903''. ...

lived in Bizye after her marriage in 896 to Nikephoros, who was tourmarches here. After her death in 903, she was venerated as a saint, and her cult became very popular in Bizye and the surrounding regions. The Bulgarian emperor Simeon I captured Bizye in c. 925 after a five-year-long siege; the city's walls were destroyed, and most of its population fled to nearby

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

. Whether Bizye was later targeted during Peter I's campaign in eastern Thrace in 927 is uncertain. In the 12th century, the Arab geographer

al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...

described Bizye as a large and well-fortified city in a fertile valley, with thriving commerce and industry. When

Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

invaders came and looted eastern Thrace in 1199, a Byzantine army was dispatched from Bizye to repel them. They were at first successful, but their initial victory was squandered because the Byzantine troops got greedy. After the

sack of Constantinople The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Crusaders sacked and destroyed most of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the city, the Latin Empire ( ...

in April 1204, Bizye became part of the new

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...

as per the

Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae The ''Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae'' (Latin for "Partition of the lands of the empire of ''Romania'' .e., the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, or ''Partitio regni Graeci'' ("Partition of the kingdom of the Greeks"), was a treaty signed a ...

. The city did not submit to the Latins at first, and it wasn't until March 1205 that it was brought to heel, along with the similarly rebellious cities of Arcadiopolis (modern

Lüleburgaz Lüleburgaz (; Modern Greek: Λουλέ Μπουργκάς ''Lule Burgas''; Bulgarian: Люлебургаз ''Lyuleburgaz''), Bergoule (Ancient Greek: Βεργούλη) or Arcadiopolis (Ancient Greek: Ἀρκαδιούπολις ''Arkadiópolis'') ...

) and Tzurulon (modern

Çorlu Çorlu () is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, northwestern Turkey. Its area is 531 km2, and its population is 300,296 (2024). It is a rapidly growing industrial center built on flatland located on the motorway Otoyol 3 and ...

). Just one month later, though, the Latin army was defeated by a combined force of Bulgars and Cumans led by Tsar

Kaloyan Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ivan I, Ioannitsa or Johannitsa (; 1170 – October 1207), the Roman Slayer, was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, who led the anti-Byzantine upr ...

, who then launched a series of invasions throughout eastern Thrace. Bizye was one of the few cities in the region that remained unaffected by these incursions. Toward the end of 1205, the nobleman Anseau de Cayeux was sent to garrison the city along with 120 knights. Later in June 1206, the emperor

Henry of Flanders Henry of Flanders (1178? – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed. Life Henry wa ...

set up camp at Bizye, which was honored as ''"mult ere bone et forz"''. Sometime after 1225, an

Epirote Epirus () is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë and the Acroceraunian Mountains in ...

force under

Theodore Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas (, ''Theodōros Komnēnos Doukas;'' Latinized as Theodore Comnenus Ducas; died 1253) or Theodore Angelos Komnenos was the ruler of Epirus and Thessaly from 1215 to 1230 and of Thessalonica and most of Macedonia and we ...

advanced on Bizye, but they were unable to take possession of the city. In 1237, the Cumans again invaded Thrace, and many of Bizye's residents were captured and sold as slaves. In August 1246, the Latin emperor Baldwin II negotiated a deal with the Order of Saint James which would have ceded Bizye and Medea to the order along with possessions in Constantinople. However the treaty was never put into effect. In 1147, Bizye (along with Tzurulon, Medea, and Derkos) came under the control of

John III Doukas Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes (; 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known as Theodore II Doukas Laskaris. Life John Doukas Vatatzes, born in about 1192 i ...

, who had allied with the Bulgarians. Either at the end of 1255 or the beginning of 1256, the emperor

Theodore II Laskaris Theodore II Laskaris or Ducas Lascaris (; November 1221/1222 – 16 August 1258) was Emperor of Nicaea from 1254 to 1258. He was the only child of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and Empress Irene Laskarina. His mother was the eldest da ...

defeated a combined Bulgarian and Cuman force somewhere between Bizye and Bulgarophygon (modern Babeski). He then concluded a peace treaty that fixed a new border in the upper

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

valley. From 1286 to 1355, Bizye was the centre of one of three known military districts called megala allagia (the other two were

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

and

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

. This district covered the entire area stretching roughly from

Mesembria Mesembria (; ) was an important Greek city in ancient Thrace. It was situated on the coast of the Euxine and at the foot of Mount Haemus; consequently upon the confines of Moesia, in which it is placed by Ptolemy. Strabo relates that it was a ...

in the north to Arcadiopolis in the west and the suburbs of Constantinople in the east. In 1304, a large Byzantine army was assembled at Bizye, commanded by emperor Michael IX and

Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes or Michael Tarchaneiotes Glabas (; – after 1304) was a notable Byzantine aristocrat and general. He served under emperors Michael VIII Palaiologos and Andronikos II Palaiologos in the Balkans, fighting agains ...

in an attempt to stop an incursion under

Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria Theodore Svetoslav (, ''Todor Svetoslav'' and also Теодор Светослав, ''Teodor Svetoslav'') ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1300 to 1322. The date of his birth is unknown. He captured northeast fortresses and expanded the ter ...

. The Byzantines had already been defeated at Skaphidas and at Bizye they were defeated again. In 1307, over the protests of the ''megas tzausios'' Humbertopoulos, the local population attempted to fight a Catalan force with

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

auxiliaries under the command of Ferran Ximenes de Arenos. They were defeated, and the Catalans looted the city. The city was again looted in 1313, this time by a Turkish force led by Ḫalil; the Turks were later defeated in battle at Xerogypsos. In the winter of 1322, Syrgiannes Palaiologos captured Bizye along with Raidestos (modern

Tekirdağ Tekirdağ () is a city in northwestern Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. The city forms the urban part of the Süleymanpaşa district, with a population of 186,421 in 2022. Tekirdağ ...

) and Sergentzion, but almost immediately lost the city to the forces of

Andronikos III Palaiologos Andronikos III Palaiologos (; 25 March 1297 – 15 June 1341), commonly Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus, was the Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341. He was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia. He was proclaimed c ...

. Andronikos himself stayed in Bizye for several days during the summer of 1324 due to an illness. That September, Bizye's annual donation to the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

was set at 100 hyperpera. Andronikos returned to Bizye with an army in 1328, in anticipation of an attack by his former ally Michael Shishman that never came. In the summer of 1332, the theologian Matthaios of Ephesos stopped in Bizye en route to Brysis, where he had been appointed to office; he only stayed briefly, but he wrote that there were numerous

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

s or ''hagiasmata'' ( Turkish: ''ayazma'') in the area, which were consecrated to the Blessed Mother. The area around Bizye was described as unsafe due to the presence of robbers In 1344, Bizye was captured by

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (; ; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byza ...

, who installed his general

Manuel Komnenos Raul Asen Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

as governor of the city. A few years later, in the late 1340s, a force of 1,200 Turkish horsemen penetrated Byzantine territory as far as Bizye. After

Matthew Kantakouzenos Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus (, c. 1325 – June 1383) was Byzantine Emperor from 1353 to 1357 and later Despot of the Morea from 1380 to 1381. Life Matthew Asanes Kantakouzenos was the son of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Ire ...

was forced to abdicate the imperial throne, Bizye remained under his effective control, and he stayed here several times in 1356. As part of a synodal act in August 1355, which ratified an alliance between the emperor

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. His long reign was marked by constant civil war, the spread of the Black Death and several military defea ...

and

Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria Ivan Alexander (, transliterated ''Ivan Aleksandǎr'', ; original spelling: ІѠАНЪ АЛЄѮАНдРЪ), also sometimes anglicized as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor (''Tsar'') of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371,Lalkov, ''Rulers of Bulgaria'', pp ...

, the metropolitanate of Bizye was given the archdiocese of Derkos as an '' epidosis'' for about two years. A similar thing happened with the diocese of Stauropolis in July 1361. The inhabitants of Bizye were possibly resettled in 1357 or 58, perhaps because of Turkish brigands taking advantage of the fact that the city's garrison had been depleted by the fighting between John V Palaiologos and Matthew Kantakouzenos. In the autumn of 1358,

Manuel Asanes Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

, Matthew's uncle-turned-enemy, asked John V to make him governor of Bizye. In 1368, Bizye came under the control of the Gazi Turks along with other areas in the southern Istranca mountains. The metropolitan of Bizye was reassigned to Mesembria and Anchialos to compensate for the loss of Bizye. During the Ottoman civil war, Bizye was ceded by the Ottoman emir

Süleyman Çelebi Süleyman Çelebi (also Emir Süleyman; – 17 February 1411) was an Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire for several years during the Ottoman Interregnum. There is a tradition of western origin, according to which Suleiman th ...

Manuel II Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios (). Manuel was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, which ...

in 1403 and then reconquered by the Ottomans under

Musa Çelebi Musa Çelebi ( 1402 – 5 July 1413) was an Ottoman dynasty, Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire, empire for three years during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background Musa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the fourth Ottoman su ...

in 1410 or 1411. After the elimination of Musa, Sultan

Mehmed I Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

restored the town to

in 1413.

Ottoman period

Bizye finally came under definitive Turkish control at the beginning of 1453, possibly under

Karaca Paşa Karaca, or Qaraja (meaning "black-ish" or "roe deer" in Turkish language, Turkish) may refer to: __NOTOC__ People Given name * Husam al-Din Qaraja, 13th-century statesman * Qaraja Ilyas, Safavid governor of Erivan from 1502 * Zayn al-Din Qaraja, Beg ...

. The Turkish traveler

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

visited Vize in 1661, during his sixth journey. He described it as the seat of a

sanjak-bey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

, inhabited by a mixture of Turks, Bulgarians, and Greeks, and famous for its

leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

s. According to the Ottoman population statistics of 1914, the

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

of Vize had a total population of 14,109, consisting of 10,020 Muslims and 4,089

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Places of interest

The

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

area on the hill above the town has a commanding position overlooking the surrounding area and still retains some ancient remains; the remains of the ancient theatre were discovered on the slope of the acropolis in the 1990s. Many burial mounds constructed for the rulers of Thracian Kingdom are scattered cross the plains around the town. Little Hagia Sophia Church (Gazi Süleyman Pasha Mosque) () is a former

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 ...

era

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

church built during the reign of Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(reigned 527–565). It converted into a mosque in the Ottoman era. Designed on a basilican plan, the church was constructed over the foundations of A Temple of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

with masonry stone and brick. The

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

-shaped church consisted of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with two rows of columns with three columns each, two

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s and an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. Its original wooden roof was replaced in the 12th and 13th centuries by a high dome. The building is vaulted around the dome in a style that is not normally seen in

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...

Vize Fortress () is a

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

constructed in the

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

era at the northwest of the town. The fortress is believed to have been built originally in 72-76 B.C., and was revived during the reign of

. It is constructed of clear cut stones and

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

on foundations with stone blocks of and . The bluish colour of the stones of the north wall indicates that this section was rebuilt in the Late Byzantine era during the Palaeologian dynasty. The fortress consists of two nested walls. The western and southern walls are intact. An inscription in Greek letters found at the fortress, says "Here were watchtowers built under the administration of Firmus, the son of Aulus Pores, along with Aulus Kenthes, the son of Rytes the son of Kenthes, and Rabdus, the son of Hyakinthus." It is exhibited in

Kırklareli Museum Kırklareli Museum () is a national museum in Kırklareli, Turkey, exhibiting natural history specimens, Ethnography, ethnographical items related to the region's history of cultural life, and Archaeology, archaeological artifacts found in and aro ...

The Theatre () was built in the 2nd century during the Late Roman era and is the only one known in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. It was discovered in 1998 during archaeological excavations carried out on the Çömlektepe tumulus. Parts of the

cavea The ''cavea'' (Latin language, Latin for "enclosure") are the seating sections of Theatre of ancient Greece, Greek and Roman theatre (structure), Roman theatres and Roman amphitheatre, amphitheatres. In Roman theatres, the ''cavea'' is tradition ...

(spectators' seats) still exist with aisles between the seats as do parts of the scaenae (stage) and orchestra. Reliefs from the

scaenae frons The scaenae frons () is the elaborately decorated permanent architectural background of a Roman theatre (structure), Roman theatre stage. The form may have been intended to resemble the facades of imperial palaces. It could support a permanent r ...

, the stage backdrop, are exhibited in

. The town also has some Ottoman structures, in addition to an ancient

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Image gallery

File:Vize - Hasan Bey Mosque - P1020925.JPG, Hasan Bey Mosque File:Vize city wall - P1020897.JPG, A watchtower on the city walls File:Kırklareli Vize.jpg, alt=, A lake near Vize

References

External links

*
Information on ancient Thrace
{{Authority control Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Tourist attractions in Kırklareli Province Roman towns and cities in Turkey Populated places in Vize District District municipalities in Turkey Cittaslow