Gelibolu is a town in

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 ...

of the Marmara Region, located in

Eastern Thrace East Thrace or Eastern Thrace, also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the part of Turkey that is geographically in Southeast Europe. Turkish Thrace accounts for 3.03% of Turkey's land area and 15% of its population. The largest c ...

in the European part 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 located on the southern shore of the peninsula named after it on the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

strait, away from

Lapseki Lapseki (from Greek language, Greek: :el:Λάμψακος, Λάμψακος, ''Lampsakos'') is a town in Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Lapseki District.Gelibolu District Gelibolu District is a Districts of Turkey, district of the Çanakkale Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Gelibolu.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 31,782 (2021).

History

The

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

n city of Kallipolis was founded in the 5th century B.C. It has a rich history as a naval base for various rulers. The 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 ...

fortified Gallipoli and established important military warehouses for corn and wine there, of which some

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 ...

ruins can still be seen.Callipolis
in the New Advent Encyclopedia After the capture of Constantinople by the

Latins The term Latins has been used throughout history to refer to various peoples, ethnicities and religious groups using Latin or the Latin-derived Romance languages, as part of the legacy of the Roman Empire. In the Ancient World, it referred to th ...

in 1204, Gallipoli passed into the power of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. In 1294 the Genoese defeated a Venetian force in the neighbourhood. The

Catalan Company The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (; , , , or ) was a company of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor in the early 14th century and hired by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Anatolian b ...

, a body of

Almogavars Almogavars (; ; ; ; originally ) is the name of a class of light infantry soldier originated in the Crown of Aragon used in the later phases of the Reconquista, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Almogavars were lightly clad, quick-moving fr ...

, under

Roger de Flor Roger de Flor (c. 1267 – 30 April 1305), also known as Ruggero/Ruggiero da Fiore or Rutger von Blum or Ruggero Flores, was an Italian military adventurer and condottiere active in Aragonese Sicily, Italy, and the Byzantine Empire. He was ...

, established themselves here in 1306, and after the death of their leader massacred almost all the citizens; they were vainly besieged by the allied troops of Venice and the Byzantine Empire, and withdrew in 1307, after dismantling the fortifications. After the city's defenses were damaged in an earthquake, it was conquered by Turks in 1354 and became the first stronghold of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in Europe. Sultan

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

(1389–1403) built a castle and tower there which can still be seen. In 1416 the Venetians under Pietro Loredan defeated the Turks here. Gallipoli is the site of "tombs of the Thracian kings", which refers to the graves of the Islamic writers Ahmed Bican (died 1466) and his brother Mehmed Bican (died 1451). Throughout the Ottoman period, the town was the capital of the

Sanjak of Gelibolu The Sanjak of Gelibolu or Gallipoli (Ottoman Turkish: ''Sancak-i/Liva-i Gelibolu'') was a second-level Ottoman province (''sanjak'' or '' liva'') encompassing the Gallipoli Peninsula and a portion of southern Thrace. Gelibolu was the first Ottoma ...

, and the original center of the

Eyalet Eyalets (, , ), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were the primary administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government was loosely structured. The empire was a ...

of the

Kapudan Pasha The Kapudan Pasha (, modern Turkish: ), also known as the (, modern: , "Captain of the Sea") was the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Typically, he was based at Galata and Gallipoli during the winter and charged with annual sailings durin ...

; between 1864 and 1920 the town belonged to the Edirne Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. In 1904 the Greek bishopric of Kallipolis was promoted to a

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

and is listed under the

Ecumenical 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 heade ...

. From the early 17th century until the early 20th century, a relatively large number of Sephardic Jews lived in Gallipoli, descendants of those fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. In 1854 the town was occupied by the allied French and British armies during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

who strengthened the defensive constructions from 1357. Many soldiers died there of cholera and are buried in a local cemetery. The guns of Gallipoli guarded the sea of Marmara until 1878 when more fortifications were built when the Russians threatened to take possession of Constantinople. The

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n Army threatened Gelibolu during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

and advanced to

Bolayır Bolayır is a village in the Gelibolu District of Çanakkale Province, situated on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the European part of Turkey. Its population is 1,053 (2021). Between 1958 and the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, 2013 reor ...

in 1912. During the First World War the peninsula and the town were witness to a series of memorable battles (see Gallipoli Campaign). The town was occupied by the Greek army in 1920–1922, and finally returned to Turkey in 1923 under the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

. Like the island

Imbros Imbros (; ; ), officially Gökçeada () since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchang ...

off the western shore of the peninsula, Gallipoli had had a majority of Greek inhabitants from ancient times until World War I. It was exempted in article 2 from the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations (1923), however, the Greek inhabitants were expelled or killed during the Turkish War of Independence. Between 1922 and 1926 the town was a provincial center and the districts of Gelibolu, Eceabat,

Keşan Keşan (; ; ; Byzantine Greek: Ρούσιον, ''Rusion'') is a town in Edirne Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Keşan District.Enez Enez is a town in Edirne Province, in East Thrace, Turkey. The ancient name of the town was Ainos (), Latinised as Aenus. It is the seat of Enez District.

became part of Keşan before 1953) and Şarköy.

Bishopric

A Christian

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of Heraclea, the capital and

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Europa. Extant documents give the names of three of its bishops of the period before the

East–West Schism The East–West Schism, also known as the Great Schism or the Schism of 1054, is the break of communion (Christian), communion between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. A series of Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic eccle ...

: Cyrillus, who was at the

Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...

in 431; Harmonius, who took part in a synod that

Patriarch Menas of Constantinople Menas of Constantinople (also ''Minas''; ; died 25 August 552), considered a saint in the Chalcedonian-affirming Church and by extension both the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church of modern times, was born in Alexandria, and enters ...

held in 536 to condemn the

Miaphysite Miaphysitism () is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one nature (''physis'', ). It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It differs from the Dyophysitism of the ...

Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople; Melchisedec, who participated in the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...

(787). The bishopric continued to be a see of the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

until after the 1923

population exchange between Greece and Turkey 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 ...

Le Quien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. Biography Le Quien studied at , Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made ...

mentions three of those bishops who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries. Beginning in the early 13th century, there were also

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

bishops of Callipolis. No longer a residential bishopric, Callipolis is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

Known bishops

*Cyrillus fl. 431 *Harmonius fl. 538 *Melchisedec fl. 787 *Joseph *Paulus *Alexius

Titular Catholic bishops

*Heinrich Kratz, O.Hosp.S.J.H., appointed 28 Jan 1484 *Edward, appointed 1494 *Diego, appointed 21 Aug 1507; died 1509 *John Young, ordained bishop 3 Jul 1513; died 28 Mar 1526 *Petrus Deodato, O.F.M., appointed 13 Feb 1638; succeeded as Bishop of Sardica (Sredek, Sofia), 15 Jun 1641 *James Smith, appointed 28 Jan 1688; died 13 May 1711 *Hyacinthus Archiopoli, appointed 1757; died 7 Apr 1789 *Giuseppe Menditto, appointed 23 Jun 1828 *John Bernard Fitzpatrick, appointed 21 Nov 1843; succeeded as Bishop of Boston, Massachusetts, 11 Aug 1846 *Jean-Benoît Truffet, C.S.Sp., appointed 11 Dec 1846; died 23 Nov 1847 *Jean-René Bessieux, C.S.Sp., appointed 20 Jun 1848; died 30 Apr 1876 *Rosario Maria Frungillo, appointed 31 Dec 1877; died 5 Feb 1886 *Vincenzo Molo, appointed 20 Sep 1887; died 15 Mar 1904 *Karel Wisnar, appointed 14 Nov 1904; died 18 Apr 1926 *José María Betanzos y Hormaechevarría, O.F.M., appointed 17 Jul 1926; died 27 Dec 1948 *Joseph-Pierre-Albert Wittebols, S.C.I., appointed 10 Mar 1949; appointed Bishop of Wamba 10 Nov 1959 *Bernard Schilling, S.V.D., appointed 19 Dec 1959; died 16 Jun 1992Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 856.

Gelibolu today

Gelibolu is now an administrative center in the province of

Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.CHP) until the

2024 Turkish local elections Local elections in Turkey took place throughout the country's 81 provinces on 31 March 2024. A total of 30 metropolitan and 1,363 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,282 provincial and 21,001 municipal councilors were elected, in addition t ...

, being replaced by Ali Kamil Soyuak ( AKP). Gelibolu is well known for

sardine Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it com ...

canning.

Notable people

* Piri Reis (), Turkish cartographer and geographer *

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...

(1478–1546), Ottoman corsair and admiral of the Ottoman Navy. * Ahmed Bican Yazıcıoğlu (d. ), Bayramiye dervish and writer * Mustafa Âlî (1541–1600), Turkish historian *

Sofia Vembo Sofia Bembou (; 10 February 1910 – 10 March 1978), known professionally as Sofia Vembo (), was a leading Greek singer and actress active from the interwar period to the early postwar years and the 1950s. She became best known for her perfor ...

(1910–1978), Greek singer * Berkim Tumers, Archer

History

Bishopric

Known bishops

Titular Catholic bishops

Gelibolu today

Notable people

See also

References

External links