Adrianople 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Edirne Province Edirne Province () is a Turkish province located in East Thrace. Part of European Turkey, it is one of only three provinces located entirely within continental Europe. Its area is 6,145 km2, and its population is 414,714 (2022). Edirne Province ...

Edirne District Edirne District (also: ''Merkez'', meaning "central" in Turkish) is a district of the Edirne Province of Turkey. Its seat is the city of Edirne.İl Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 180,002 (2022). In the local elections on March 31, 2024, lawyer Filiz Gencan Akin was elected as the new mayor of the city of Edirne, succeeding

Recep Gürkan Recep Demir Gürkan (born 1 August 1964) is a Turkish politician and member of the CHP. He was previously a member of the Grand National Assembly and served as the mayor of Edirne between 30 March 2014 and March 2024. Life and work He was ...

, who had been mayor for 10 years and did not stand for re-election.

Names and etymology

The city was founded and named after the Roman emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

as ''Hadrianopolis'' ( in English, ; in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

) on the site of the Greek city of

Orestias Orestias (), later refounded by Hadrian as Adrianople (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), was an ancient Greek settlement next to the Evros river in Thrace, near or at the site of present-day Edirne, and close to the current border between Turk ...

, which was itself founded on an earlier

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, ...

settlement named ''Uskudama.'' The Ottoman name ''Edirne'' (ادرنه) is derived from the Greek name. The name ''Adrianople'' was used in English until the Turkish adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1928, after which ''Edirne'' became the internationally recognised name. In Bulgarian the city is known as Одрин (Odrin).

History

The area around Edirne has been the site of numerous major battles and sieges starting from the days of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The vagaries of the border region between Asia and Europe gave rise to Edirne's claim to be the most frequently contested spot on earth.

Antiquity

The city was reestablished by the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

on the site of

Orestias Orestias (), later refounded by Hadrian as Adrianople (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), was an ancient Greek settlement next to the Evros river in Thrace, near or at the site of present-day Edirne, and close to the current border between Turk ...

(named after its mythological founder

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

), which was itself built on a previous Thracian settlement known as ''Uskadama'', ''Uskudama'', ''Uskodama'' or ''Uscudama''. Hadrian developed it, adorned it with monuments, and changed its name to ''Hadrianopolis'' (which would later be pronounced ''Adrianopolis'' and

Anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as ''Adrianople'').

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Λικίνιος; c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign, he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that ...

was defeated here by

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

in 324, and Emperor

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

was killed by the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

here during the

Battle of Adrianople The Battle of Adrianople also known as Battle of Hadrianopolis was fought between the Eastern Roman army led by the Roman emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) ...

in 378.

Edirne Roman Walls and Macedonian Tower 0208

Medieval and early Ottoman periods

In 813, the city was temporarily seized by

Khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

Krum of Bulgaria 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 ...

who moved its inhabitants to the Bulgarian lands north of the Danube. During the period of the

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 ...

of Constantinople, the Crusaders were defeated by the Bulgarian Emperor

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 ...

at the

Battle of Adrianople The Battle of Adrianople also known as Battle of Hadrianopolis was fought between the Eastern Roman army led by the Roman emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) ...

in 1205. In 1206 the Latin regime gave Adrianople and the surrounding area to the Byzantine aristocrat

Theodore Branas Theodore Branas or Vranas (, ''Theodōros Branas''), sometimes called Theodore Komnenos Branas, was a general under the Byzantine Empire and afterwards under the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Under the Latin regime he was given the title Caesar a ...

as a hereditary fief. Theodore Komnenos,

Despot of Epirus The Despot of Epirus was the ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, one of the rump states of the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. The name "Despotate of Epirus" and the title "despot of Epirus" are modern historiographical name ...

, took possession of it in 1227, but three years later was defeated at Klokotnitsa by Emperor

Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria Ivan Asen II, also known as John Asen II (, ; 1190s – May/June 1241), was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire was killed in 1196. H ...

. In 1362, the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

under Sultan

Murad I Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "Head of state, sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Mura ...

invaded Thrace and Murad captured Adrianople, probably in 1369 (the date is disputed). The city became "Edirne" in Turkish, reflecting the Turkish pronunciation and Murad moved the Ottoman capital here from

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

.

Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

(Sultan Mehmed II) was born in Adrianople, where he came under the influence of

Hurufi Hurufism ( ''ḥurūfiyyah'', Persian: حُروفیان ''horūfiyān'') was a Sufi movement based on the mysticism of letters (''ḥurūf''), which originated in Astrabad and spread to areas of western Iran (Persia) and Anatolia in the late 1 ...

s dismissed by

Taşköprüzade Taşköprüzade or Taşköprülüzade Ahmet (), pseudonym of Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafá ibn Khalīl Ṭāshkubrīʹzādah (; Bursa, 3 December 1495 – Istanbul, 16 April 1561), was an Ottoman Turkish historian and chronicler living during the reig ...

in the ''Şakaiki Numaniye'' as ' certain accursed ones of no significance', who were burnt as heretics by Mahmud Pasha. The city remained the seat of Ottoman power until 1453, when Mehmed II took

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(present-day

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 ...

) and moved the capital there. The importance of Edirne to the early Ottomans explains the plethora of early Ottoman

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s,

medrese Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s and other monuments that have survived until today although the Eski Sarayı (Old Palace) was largely destroyed, leaving only relatively slight remains. Also, there is evidence of a ''

scriptorium A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...

'' in the Ottoman's Edirne palace during this period.

Uzunköprü Bridge Uzunköprü ( ''Long Bridge''), formerly , is a 15th-century Ottoman Empire, Ottoman stone bridge over the Ergene, River Ergene in Edirne Province, northwestern Turkey. The bridge gave its name to the nearby town of Uzunköprü. It is claimed to ...

, the world's longest medieval stone bridge, connects

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

with the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

on the Ergene River and was erected between 1426 and 1443 by the primary architect, Müslihiddin, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan

Murat II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

.

Later Ottoman period

That Adrianople/Edirne continued to hold an important place in Ottoman hearts is reflected in the fact that Sultan

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV (; ; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to b ...

left the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to die here in 1693. The wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire,

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, medical pioneer, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, ...

, spent six weeks in Edirne (then Adrianople) in the spring of 1717 and left an account of her experiences there in her ''The Turkish Embassy Letters''. Wearing Turkish dress, Montagu witnessed the passage of Sultan Ahmed III to the mosque, visited the young wife-to-be of his vizier, Damad Ibrahim Pasha and was shown around the Selimiye Mosque. Adrianople was briefly occupied by imperial Russian troops in 1829 during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

and in 1878 during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The city suffered a fire in 1905. At that time it had about 80,000 inhabitants, of whom 30,000 were Turks; 22,000 Greeks; 10,000 Bulgarians; 4,000 Armenians; 12,000 Jews; and 2,000 more citizens of unclassified ethnic/religious backgrounds. Adrianople was a vital fortress defending

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and

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 ...

during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

of 1912–13. It was briefly occupied by the Bulgarians in 1913, following the Siege of Adrianople. The Great Powers – Britain, Italy, France and Russia – attempted to coerce the Ottoman Empire into ceding Adrianople to

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 ...

during the temporary winter truce of 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 ...

. The belief that the government was willing to give up the city created a scandal for the Ottoman government in Constantinople (as Adrianople was a former capital of the Empire), leading to the

1913 Ottoman coup d'état The 1913 Ottoman coup d'état (23 January 1913), also known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte (), was a coup d'état carried out in the Ottoman Empire by a number of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) members led by Enver Pasha, Ismail Enver Bey ...

led by the

Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

(CUP) under

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

. Although it was victorious in the coup, the CUP was unable to stop the Bulgarians from capturing the city after fighting resumed in the spring. Despite relentless pressure from the Great Powers, the Ottoman empire never officially ceded the city to Bulgaria. Edirne was swiftly reconquered by the Ottomans during the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

under the leadership of

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

(who proclaimed himself the "second conqueror of Adrianople" after

Murad I Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "Head of state, sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Mura ...

) following the collapse of the Bulgarian army in the region. The entire Armenian population of the city was deported to Syria and Mesopotamia during the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

on 27–28 October 1915 and 17–18 February 1916. Their property and businesses were sold at low prices to Turkish Muslims. During the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

, the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Romania, Principality of Serbia, Serbia, and Principality of ...

and the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(1912–1913), Balkan-Muslims fled to Edirne and became known as

Muhacir The Muhacirs are estimated to be millions of Ottoman Muslim citizens and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Muhacirs are primarily consist of Turks but also Albanian, Bosniaks, Circassians, Cri ...

.

Administrative arrangements

Adrianople was a

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

centre during the Ottoman period and was bound to, successively, the

Rumeli Eyalet The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia (), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history ...

and Silistre Eyalet before becoming a provincial capital of the Eyalet of Edirne at the beginning of the 19th century; until 1878, the Eyalet of Adrianople comprised the

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

s of Edirne, Tekfurdağı,

Gelibolu Gelibolu is a town in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara Region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey. It is located on the southern shore of the Gallipoli, peninsula named after it on the Dardanelles strait, away from Lapsek ...

, Filibe, and İslimye. After land reforms in 1867, the Eyalet of Adrianople became the Vilayet of Adrianople.

Turkish Republic

Adrianople/Edirne was ceded to Greece by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, but recaptured and annexed by Turkey after the Greek defeat at the end of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), Greco-Turkish War, also known as the Western Front of the larger Turkish War of Independence, in 1922. Under the Greek administration, Edirne (officially known as Adrianople) was the capital of the Adrianople Prefecture. From 1934 onwards Edirne was the seat of the Second Inspectorate General (Turkey), Second Inspectorate General, in which an Inspector General governed the provinces of Edirne Province, Edirne, Çanakkale Province, Çanakkale, Tekirdağ Province, Tekirdaĝ and Kırklareli Province, Kırklareli. The Inspectorate Generals governmental posts were abandoned in 1948, but the legal framework for them was only abolished in 1952 during the government of the Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1961), Democrat Party.

Ecclesiastical history

Adrianople was made the seat of a Greek Metropolitan bishop, metropolitan and of an Armenian apostolic church, Armenian bishop. It is also the centre of a Bulgarian diocese but this is not recognised and has been deprived of a bishop. The city also had some Protestants. The few, mainly foreign Latin Catholics were dependent on the vicariate-apostolic of Constantinople. Adrianople also contained the parish of St. Anthony of Padua (Minors Conventual) and a school for girls conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Zagreb, Agram. The suburb of Karaağaç, Edirne, Karaağaç contained a church (Minor Conventuals), a school for boys (Assumptionists) and a school for girls (Oblates of the Assumption). Each of its mission stations, at Tekirdağ and Alexandroupoli, had a school (Minor Conventuals), and there was one at Gallipoli (the Assumptionists). Around 1850, from the standpoint of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Adrianople was the residence of a Bulgarian vicar-apostolic for the 4,600 Eastern Catholics of the Ottoman vilayet (province) of Thrace and after 1878 - of the principality of Bulgaria. They had eighteen parishes or missions, six of which were in the principality, with twenty churches or chapels, thirty-one priests, of whom six were Assumptionists and six were Resurrectionists; and eleven schools with 670 pupils. In Adrianople itself there were only a few United Bulgarians, with an Episcopal church of St. Elias, and the churches of St. Demetrius and Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The last is served by the Resurrectionist Order, Resurrectionists, who also have a college with ninety pupils. In the suburb of Karaağaç, the Assumptionists have a parish and a seminary with fifty pupils. Besides the Eastern Catholic Bulgarians, the above statistics included the Greek Catholic missions of Malgara (now Malkara) and Daoudili (now Davuteli village in Malkara), with four priests and 200 faithfuls, because from the civil point of view belonged to the Bulgarian Exarchate, Bulgarian Vicariate. Later however, the Roman Catholic diocese was discontinued, and exists only in name as a titular see, titular metropolitan archbishopric, under the full name ''Hadrianopolis in Haemimonto'' to distinguish it from several other titular sees named Hadrianopolis. In 2018, archaeologists discovered remains of a Byzantine church. The church was built around 500 AD and it was an early Byzantine period building.

Geography

Climate

Edirne has a borderline humid subtropical (''Cfa'') and hot-summer Mediterranean climate (''Csa'') in the Köppen climate classification, and a temperate oceanic climate (''Do'') in the Trewartha climate classification. Edirne has hot, moderately dry summers and chilly, wet and often snowy winters. Highest recorded temperature: on 25 July 2007
Lowest recorded temperature: on 14 January 1954

Quarters

Edirne consists of 24 quarters:

Attractions

Edirne is famed for its many mosques, medreses and other Ottoman monuments.

Mosques

The Selimiye Mosque (Edirne), Selimiye Mosque, built in 1575 and designed by Turkey's greatest architect, Mimar Sinan (c. 1489/1490–1588), is the most important monument in the city and became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2011. It used to have the highest minarets in Turkey, at before the completion of the Çamlıca Mosque in 2019 which features minarets standing at tall. Sinan himself believed the dome to be higher than that of Hagia Sophia, the former Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Orthodox Cathedral in

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 ...

, but modern measuring methods seem to suggest otherwise. Named after Sultan Selim II (r. 1566–1574) who commissioned it but did not live to see its completion, the mosque is decorated with Turkish marble and magnificent İznik tiles. It is the centre of a considerable complex of contemporary buildings. Work started on the Eski Cami (Old Mosque, Edirne, Old Mosque) in 1403 but was not completed until 1422. It was designed in what is usually thought of as the

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

style. Even finer is the Üç Şerefeli Mosque, Üç Şerefli Mosque (Three-Balconied Mosque) which was built between 1437 and 1447 for Sultan Murad II. It was the largest mosque built in the Ottoman provinces before the conquest of Constantinople. Both these mosques are in the centre of Edirne. Further away from the centre, the complex of Sultan Bayezid II, complex of Sultan Beyazid II, built between 184 and 1488, and has a lovely semi-rural location. It is the most complete surviving mosque complex in Edirne, consisting of an ''imaret'' (soup kitchen), ''darüşşifa'' (hospital), ''timarhane'' (asylum), hospice, ''tıp medrese'' (medical school), ''tabhane'' (accommodation for dervishes) bakery and assorted depots. Some parts of the complex now house a museum to the history of Islamic medicine.

Edirne Palace

Edirne Palace ( for "New Imperial Palace") in the Sarayiçi quarter, was built in the reign of Murad II (r. 1421–1444) but was destroyed in 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War. The palace gate and kitchen have since been restored. The ''Kasr-ı Adalet'' ("Justice Castle"), originally built as part of the palace complex, stands intact next to the small Fatih Bridge over the Tundzha, Tunca river. The splendid appearance of the palace in the late 1460s when it glistened with gold, silver and marble was described by Kritovoulos of İmbros in his ''History of Mehmed the Conqueror.''

Other religious monuments

Dating back to 1909, the Grand Synagogue of Edirne was restored and re-opened in March 2015. A Roman Catholic and two Bulgarian Orthodox churches are also to be found in the city.

Other historic monuments

Edirne has three historic covered bazaars: the Kavaflar Arastası (Cobblers Arcade), next to the Selimiye Mosque and constructed to bring in an income to support the külliye; the Bedesten next to the Eski Cami which was supported by the income from the shops; and the Semiz Ali Paşa Çarşısı (Ali Pasha Bazaar, AKA Kapalı Çarşı), another work of Mimar Sinan, Sinan dating back to 1568. The Kavaflar Arastası is the place to come to buy miniature versions of the handmade brooms with mirrors set into them that used to play a part in marriage ceremonies as well as to buy soap in the shape of fruits. Of the original Roman Hadrianopolis only slight remains of the fortifications survive near the so-called Macedonian Tower, itself probably a part of the defences although much patched-up and altered over the ensuing centuries. Edirne Museum (Edirne Müzesi) contains collections of local archaeology and ethnography. In the grounds outside can be seen an example of the sort of dolmen to be seen at nearby Lalapaşa. In the town centre stand the Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai (Edirne), Rüstem Pasha (1560–61) and Ekmekcioğlu Ahmed Pasha caravanserais, designed to accommodate travellers - in the case of the Rüstem Pasha by Mimar Sinan - in the 16th century. The Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai now serves as the Kervansaray Hotel. The Balkan Wars Memorial Cemetery in Edirne, Balkan Wars Memorial Cemetery is located close to the ruins of the Edirne Palace, with an Unknown Soldier monument featuring an Ottoman soldier in front of its entrance. The Maritsa, Meriç and Tundzha, Tunca rivers, which flow around west and south of the city, are crossed by elegant Bridges of Edirne, arched bridges dating back to early Ottoman times. The historic Karaağaç railway station has been restored to house Trakya University's Faculty of Fine Arts. The Treaty of Lausanne Monument and Museum are in the surrounding park.

Cuisine

The town is famous in Turkey for the Edirne fried liver. ''Ciğer tava'' (Bread crumbs#Breading, breaded and deep frying, deep-fried liver (food), liver) is often served with a side of cacık, a dish of diluted strained yogurt with chopped cucumber.

Festivals

The Kırkpınar oil-wrestling tournament is held every year in late June or early July. Kakava#Kakava in Turkey, Kakava, an international festival celebrated by the Romani people in Turkey is held on 5–6 May each year. Bocuk Gecesi is a festival of Balkan origin celebrated in mid-January on what is expected to be the coldest day of the year. It is a sort of Turkish take on Halloween.

Economy

Edirne's economy largely depends on agriculture. 73% of the working population work in agriculture, fishing, forests and hunting. The lowlands are productive. Corn, sugar beets and sunflowers are the leading crops. Melons, watermelons, rice, tomatoes, eggplants and viniculture are important. The through highway that connects Europe to

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 ...

,

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and the Middle East passes through Edirne. Industry is developing. Agriculture-based industries (agro-industries) are especially important for the city's economy.

Education

Universities

* Trakya University, which is linked with Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Loerrach, Lörrach University through the Erasmus programme of the European Union, EU.

High schools

* Beykent Educational Institutions * 80th Year of Republic Anatolian High School (80. Yıl Cumhuriyet Anadolu Lisesi in Turkish) * Edirne Anatolian Teacher Training High School (Edirne Anadolu Öğretmen Lisesi in Turkish: It has been transformed into Edirne Social Sciences High School) * Edirne Anatolian Technical High School (Edirne Anadolu Teknik Lisesi in Turkish) * Beykent Educational Institutions, Edirne Beykent High School of Science (Özel Edirne Beykent Fen Lisesi) * Beykent Educational Institutions, Edirne Beykent High School of Anatolian (Özel Edirne Beykent Anadolu Lisesi) * Edirne High School (Anatolian High School) (Edirne Lisesi in Turkish) * Edirne Ilhami Ertem High School (Edirne İlhami Ertem Lİsesi in Turkish) * Edirne Industrial Vocational High School (Edirne Endüstri Meslek Lisesi in Turkish) * Edirne Milli Piyango Trade Profession High School (Edirne Milli Piyango Ticaret Meslek Lisesi) * Edirne Suleyman Demirel Science & Maths High School (Edirne Fen Lisesi in Turkish) * Edirne Yildirim Anatolian High School (Edirne Anadolu Lisesi - Yıldırım Anadolu Lisesi in Turkish) * Edirne Fine Arts High School (Edirne Güzel Sanatlar Lisesi in Turkish)

Gallery

Edirne Muradiye mosque Gypsy girls 2009 6261

File:GrandSynagogueEdirne (5).JPG, Interior view of the Grand Synagogue of Edirne File:Selimiye Mosque Mosque 0170.jpg, Interior view of the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne File:Selimiye Mosque 3.JPG, View of the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne File:Nagymecset - Edirne, 2014.10.22 (11).JPG, View of the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne File:HistoricHouseEdirne (4).JPG, A house in Edirne from the Ottoman period File:Edirne Old Mosque 2846.jpg, Interior of Old Mosque, Edirne, Eski Cami (Old Mosque) File:HistoricSchoolBuildingEdirne.JPG, A historic elementary school building File:MeriçBridgeEdirne.JPG, Meriç Bridge File:Edirnedowntown.jpg, Edirne Main Street File:IV. Mehmet Av Köşkü - panoramio (1).jpg, Mehmet IV Hunting Lodge File:BulgarianChurch.jpg, St. George church, Edirne File:Sts. Constantine and Helen Church (Edirne), Front.jpg, Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen (Edirne), Sts. Constantine and Helena Bulgarian Church File:FatihBridge&Kasr-ıAdaletEdirne.JPG, Fatih Bridge over the Tundzha, Tunca River, with the Edirne Palace, Kasr-ı Adalet (Justice Pavilion) tower in the background File:Ghazi Mihal Mosque.jpg, Ghazi Mihal Mosque File:Muradiye mosque 3447.jpg, Part of Muradiye Mosque, Edirne, Muradiye Mosque mihrab File:Muradiye mosque 3468.jpg, Muradiye Mosque, Edirne, Muradiye Mosque front File:Maarif Su Terazisi Edirne, Turkey.jpg, Maarif Su Terazisi in Edirne. File:Roman Walls and Tower 0209.jpg, Macedonia Tower, A Roman Tower that was formerly converted into a clock tower that is still standing. File:Edirne - 2014.10.22 (9).JPG, Bazaar File:Edirne - panoramio.jpg, Local shops in Edirne File:Edirne Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai to left in 1999 171.jpg, Old town of Edirne in 1999 File:Edirne Saraçlar Caddesi in 2009 6421.jpg, City centre, City Center

Twin cities

* Alexandroupolis, Greece * Ardahan,

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 ...

* Bat Yam, Israel * İzmit,

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 ...

* Kars,

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 ...

* Lörrach, Germany * Yambol,

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 ...

* Gödöllő, Hungary * Prizren, Kosovo

Notable people

;Sultans * Bayezid I (1360—1403), Ottoman sultan from 1389 to 1402 * Mahmud I (1696—1754), Ottoman sultan from 1730 to 1754 *

Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

(1432–1481), Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople (today Istanbul) * Mustafa II (1664–1703), Ottoman sultan from 1695 to 1703 * Osman III (1699—1757), Ottoman sultan from 1754 to 1757 * Şahin Giray (1745-1787), last khan of Crimea ;Historical * Caleb Afendopolo (before 1430-1499), Karaite polyhistor * Athanasius I of Constantinople (1230—1310), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople * Athanasius V of Jerusalem (died 1844), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem * Hagop Baronian (1843—1891), Ottoman Armenian writer, satirist, educator * Elijah Bashyazi (c. 1420—1490), Karaite Jewish hakham *

Theodore Branas Theodore Branas or Vranas (, ''Theodōros Branas''), sometimes called Theodore Komnenos Branas, was a general under the Byzantine Empire and afterwards under the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Under the Latin regime he was given the title Caesar a ...

, Byzantine general * Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch), Byzantine general * Abraham ben Raphael Caro, 18th-century Ottoman rabbi * Karpos Papadopoulos (1790s-1871), Member of the Filiki Eteria * Anthim the Iberian (1650-1716), Georgians, Georgian theologian, scholar, calligrapher, philosopher; assassinated by Ottomans in Edirne. * Theoklitos Polyeidis (1698-1759), Greek scholar, teacher, translator, priest and monk * Dionysius V of Constantinople (1820-1891), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople * Joseph Halévy (1827—1917), Ottoman-born Jewish-French Orientalist and traveler * Abdulcelil Levni (died 1732), Ottoman court painter and miniaturist * Neşâtî (?–1674), Ottoman poet * Georgi Valkovich (1833—1892), Bulgarian physician, diplomat and politician * Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi (died 1732), Ottoman Georgians, Georgian statesman and ambassador * Stefanos Koumanoudis (1818-1899), Greek archaeologist, university teacher, writer and translator * Charles XII, Swedish king who stayed in the city for most of 1713 during his exile in the Ottoman Empire * Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼí faith, lived in Edirne from 1863 to 1868. He was exiled here by the Ottoman Empire before being banished to the Ottoman penal colony in Acre, Israel, Akka. Referred to Adrianople in his writings as the "Land of Mystery". ;Contemporary * Cem Adrian (born 1980), Turkish singer-songwriter, author, producer and film director * Şevket Süreyya Aydemir (1897—1976), Turkish writer, intellectual, economist, historian * Atılay Canel (born 1955), Turkish football coach * Cavit Erdel (1884—1933), Ottoman Army officer and Turkish Army general * Hüsrev Gerede (1884-1962), Ottoman and Turkish Army officer, politician and diplomat * Avra Theodoropoulou (1880-1963), Greek musician and activist * Ragıp Gümüşpala (1897-1964), 11th Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces * Acun Ilıcalı (born 1969), Turkish television personality and producer * Haşim İşcan (1898-1968), Turkish high school teacher, province governor and the first elected mayor of Istanbul * Kemal Kerinçsiz (born 1960), Turkish ultra-nationalist lawyer * Özlem Kolat (born 1984), Turkish classical clarinet player * Michael Petkov (1850-1921), Bulgarian Eastern Catholic priest * Muharrem Korhan Yamaç (born 1972), Paralympics, world and European champion disabled sport shooter * Nikos Zachariadis (1903—1973), General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece

Notes

References

External links

Edirne Directory

Edirne Weather Forecast Information

Photographs of the town and monuments taken by Disk Osseman

{{Authority control Edirne, Catholic titular sees in Europe, Hadrianopolis in Haemimonto Provincial municipalities in Turkey Edirne District Former national capitals Jewish communities in Turkey Populated places established in the 2nd century Roman sites in Turkey Capitals of the Ottoman Empire

Names and etymology

History

Antiquity

Medieval and early Ottoman periods

Later Ottoman period

Administrative arrangements

Turkish Republic

Ecclesiastical history

Geography

Climate

Quarters

Attractions

Mosques

Edirne Palace

Other religious monuments

Other historic monuments

Cuisine

Festivals

Economy

Education

Universities

High schools

Gallery

Twin cities

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links