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Edirne ( US : / eɪ ˈ d ɪər n ə , ɛ ˈ -/ , Turkish: [e.ˈdiɾ.ne] ) ( Bulgarian : Одрин), historically known as Adrianople ( Greek : Αδριανούπολις , romanized :  Adrianoúpolis ), is a city in Turkey , in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace . Situated 7 km (4.3 mi) from the Greek and 20 km (12 mi) from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1369 to 1453, before Constantinople became its capital.

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100-544: The city is a commercial centre for woven textiles, silks, carpets and agricultural products and has a growing tourism industry. It is the seat of Edirne Province and Edirne District . Its population is 180,002 (2022). The town is famous in Turkey for the Edirne Fried Liver. Ciğer tava ( breaded and deep-fried liver ) is often served with a side of cacık , a dish of diluted strained yogurt with chopped cucumber. In

200-527: A cemevi . In the final years of the Byzantine Empire, the population of Constantinople had fallen steadily, throwing the great imperial city into the shadow of its past glory. For Mehmed II , conquest was only the first stage; the second was giving the old city an entirely new cosmopolitan social structure. Most of what remained of the Byzantine population – a mere 30,000 persons – was deported. According to

300-587: 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

400-510: A city which was to become known as alem penah -refuge of the universe. According to the census of 1477, there were 9,486 houses occupied by Muslims; 3,743 by Greeks; 1,647 by Jews; 267 by Christians from the Crimea, and 31 Gypsies. Mehmet also re-established Constantinople, as it was still called at that time, as the center of the Orthodox patriarchate. There was also an Italian community in the area of

500-669: A legendary king Byzas as the leader of the Megarian colonists and eponymous founder of the city. Cape Moda in Chalcedon was the first location which the Greek settlers from Megara chose to colonize in 685 BC, before colonizing Byzantion on the European side of the Bosphorus under the command of King Byzas in 667 BC. Byzantion was established on the site of an ancient port settlement named Lygos During

600-545: A museum to the history of Islamic medicine. Edirne Palace ( Ottoman Turkish : Saray-ı Cedid-i Amire 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

700-655: A port settlement dating back to the Phoenicians has been discovered. The first name of the city was Lygos according to Pliny the Elder in his historical accounts and it was possibly founded by Thracian tribes along with the neighboring settlement of Semystra . Only a few walls and substructures belonging to Lygos have survived to date, near the Seraglio Point , where the Topkapı Palace now stands. Lygos and Semystra were

800-611: A semi- ghost town with, as Ibn Battuta noted, sown fields within the city walls. The city by 1453 held less than a tenth of its former population. The city, known alternatively in Ottoman Turkish as Ḳosṭanṭīnīye ( قسطنطينيه after the Arabic form al-Qusṭanṭīniyyah القسطنطينية ) or Istanbul, while its Christian minorities continued to call it Constantinople, as did people writing in French , English , and other European languages ,

900-530: 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 Agram . The suburb of Karaağaç contained

1000-495: Is bordered by Tekirdağ Province and Kırklareli Province to the east, and the Gallipoli peninsula of Çanakkale Province to the south-east. It shares international borders with Bulgaria ( Haskovo and Yambol Provinces ) to the north and Greece ( Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ) to the west. Edirne is the capital of the province, and the largest city. It is the only province of Turkey that borders Greece. Edirne , capital of

1100-631: Is disputed). The city became "Edirne" in Turkish, reflecting the Turkish pronunciation and Murad moved the Ottoman capital here from Bursa . Mehmed the Conqueror (Sultan Mehmed II) was born in Adrianople, where he came under the influence of Hurufis dismissed by Taşköprüzade in the Şakaiki Numaniye as ' certain accursed ones of no significance ', who were burnt as heretics by Mahmud Pasha . The city remained

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1200-460: Is divided into 9 districts (capital district in bold ): 41°07′12″N 26°31′14″E  /  41.12000°N 26.52056°E  / 41.12000; 26.52056 This geographical article about a location in Edirne Province , Turkey is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ottoman Constantinople Neolithic artifacts, uncovered by archeologists at

1300-517: Is evidence of a scriptorium in the Ottoman's Edirne palace during this period. Uzunköprü Bridge , the world's longest medieval stone bridge, connects Anatolia with the Balkans on the Ergene River and was erected between 1426 and 1443 by the primary architect, Müslihiddin , during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat II . That Adrianople/Edirne continued to hold an important place in Ottoman hearts

1400-507: Is famed for its many mosques, medreses and other Ottoman monuments. The 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 70.90 m (232.6 ft) before the completion of the Çamlıca Mosque in 2019 which features minarets standing at 107.1 m (351 ft) tall. Sinan himself believed

1500-516: 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 Meriç and Tunca rivers, which flow around west and south of the city, are crossed by elegant 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

1600-682: Is now known as the Topkapi Gate . He immediately rode his horse to the Hagia Sophia which he ordered to be sacked. He ordered that an imam meet him there in order to chant the Muslim Creed : "I testify that there is no God but Allah . I testify that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah." He turned the Orthodox cathedral into an Islamic mosque , solidifying Turkish rule in Constantinople. Mehmed ordered

1700-641: Is reflected in the fact that Sultan Mehmed IV left the Topkapı Palace in Constantinople to die here in 1693. The wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lady Mary 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

1800-516: 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

1900-602: The Battle of Adrianople in 1205. In 1206 the Latin regime gave Adrianople and the surrounding area to the Byzantine aristocrat Theodore Branas as a hereditary fief. Theodore Komnenos , Despot of Epirus , took possession of it in 1227, but three years later was defeated at Klokotnitsa by Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria . In 1362, the Ottomans under Sultan Murad I invaded Thrace and Murad captured Adrianople , probably in 1369 (the date

2000-463: The Codex which was completed in 534. However, Justinian's reign was the greatest influence of the Byzantine Empire. Starting in the 600s, warfare kept Constantinople's power flip-flopping between decline and progression. Alliance with Europe slowly began to break away from the Byzantine Empire between the seventh-eighth centuries, when the Byzantine and Roman churches disagreed on various subjects. However,

2100-644: The Galata Tower . Having surrendered before the fall of the city, Mehmed allowed them to preserve an element of self-government. For generations after, they supplied interpreters and diplomats for the Ottoman Court. After the conquest of Egypt in 1517, and the Sultan's acceptance of the position of Caliph , Constantinople acquired additional importance in Muslim eyes. Mosques built by Sultan Suleiman I and his successors gave

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2200-461: The Istanbul pogrom . This accelerated the departure of Greeks from the city and Turkey. Jews, Armenians, and Georgians were also targeted. Starting from the 1970s, the population of Istanbul began to rapidly increase, as people from Anatolia migrated to the city to find employment in the many new factories that were constructed at the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis. This sudden sharp rise in

2300-1060: The Jerrahi Tekke in Fatih , the Sunbul Effendi and Ramazan Effendi Mosque and Turbes also in Fatih , the Galata Mevlevihane in Beyoğlu , the Yahya Effendi Tekke in Beşiktaş , and the Bektashi Tekke in Kadıköy , which now serves Alevi Muslims as a Cem Evi . As the years passed the population increased, from about 80,000 at the death of Mehmet, to 300,000 by the 18th century, and 400,000 in 1800. The capital of an empire that stretched across Europe, Asia, and Africa, it also became an important diplomatic centre, with several foreign embassies. It

2400-527: The Latin alphabet in 1928 and urged other countries to use the city's Turkish name in their languages and their postal service networks. In 1929 Lloyd's agents were informed that telegrams now must be addressed to "Istanbul" or "Stamboul", but The Times stated that mail could still be delivered to "Constantinople". However, The New York Times stated that year that mail to "Constantinople" may no longer be delivered. In 1929 Turkish Nationalists advocated for

2500-727: The Neolithic period. The earliest known settlement dates from 6700 BC, discovered in 2008, during the construction works of the Yenikapı subway station and the Marmaray tunnel at the historic peninsula on the European side. On the Anatolian side, the earliest known settlement is the Fikirtepe mound from the Copper Age period, with artifacts dating from 5500 to 3500 BC. In nearby Kadıköy ( Chalcedon )

2600-718: The Primary Chronicle and other historical documents (see Rus'-Byzantine Wars ). Byzantine constantly played Kiev, Poland, Bulgaria, and other European Nations of that time, against each other. Near 1204, Constantinople began to decline in power. Because of the failure of the Third Crusade , self-confident Latin Christians decided to again try to capture the Holy City of Jerusalem in the Fourth Crusade ; but this time their plan

2700-532: The Second Inspectorate General , in which an Inspector General governed the provinces of Edirne , Çanakkale , Tekirdaĝ and 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 . Adrianople was made the seat of a Greek metropolitan and of an Armenian bishop. It

2800-633: The Treaty of Lausanne . When the Republic of Turkey was founded under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (then known as Mustafa Kemal Pasha ) on 29 October 1923 during the Turkish War of Independence , the capital was moved from Constantinople to Angora, which became Ankara in English. As a consequence, the population collapsed, from an estimated 1,125,000 in 1914 to about 500,000 in 1924; but the population steadily grew during

2900-461: 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

3000-809: The Admiralty Winston Churchill 's Royal Navy attempted an operation to capture Constantinople. It failed after the Ottoman Army repulsed the British Army and ANZAC landing force in the Gallipoli campaign . After the First World War , the Armistice of Mudros and the Treaty of Sèvres decreed that Constantinople would be occupied by Allied Forces. On 13 November 1918, the Occupation of Constantinople by Allied forces began, ending on 4 October 1923 with

3100-524: The Ashikpashazade, a Turkish chronicle, Mehmed then sent officers to all his lands to announce that whoever wished should come and take possession in Constantinople, as freehold, of houses and orchards and gardens ... Despite this measure the city was not repopulated. So then the Sultan commanded that from every land families, rich and poor alike, should be brought in by force ... and now the city began to be populous. Mehmed took much personal interest in

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3200-590: The Byzantine Emperors, and because of this connection, Eastern Europe became Eastern Orthodox after the Christianization of Kievan Rus' by Vladimir the Great of Kiev . However, these relationships were not always friendly – Constantinople was sacked several times over those 400 years by Kiev Princes, forcing Constantinople to sign increasingly favorable treaties for Kiev , the texts of which were preserved in

3300-513: The Empire amongst themselves ; they never made it to Jerusalem . This new Latin Empire at Constantinople lasted until 1261 when the Byzantines under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus recaptured the city and some outlying territory . After this, Constantinople never regained its former glory. Rather than a thriving metropolis, Constantinople transformed into a collection of villages, and became

3400-524: The Eski Cami ( Old Mosque ) in1403 but was not completed until 1422. It was designed in what is usually thought of as the Bursa style. Even finer is the 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

3500-417: The European side, near the point of the peninsula ( Sarayburnu ) there was a settlement during the early 1st millennium BCE . Modern authors have linked it to the possible Thracian toponym Lygos , mentioned by Pliny the Elder as an earlier name for the site of Byzantium. There is evidence suggesting there were settlements around the region dating as far back as 6700 BC, and it is hard to define if there

3600-546: The Golden Horn behind the enemy ships. The Ottoman ships burnt the Byzantine ones in a naval battle. Since the Byzantine army was still holding on after this defeat, the sultan thought it was time to set up his secret weapon, a huge mobile tower. This tower could hold many soldiers who could be at the same level as the walls of the city, making it easier for them to break into Constantinople. The first group of Ottomans who entered

3700-599: The Inspectorate-General was abandoned in 1948 but the legal framework of the Inspectorate-Generals was only abolished in 1952, under the Government of the Democrat Party . Until the reign of Selim I , there were remnant populations of so-called Tengri Turks in the province of Edirne who adhered to the ancient beliefs of Tengrism . It is assumed that it was a group of nomadic Yörüks . Edirne province

3800-576: The Ottoman period and was bound to, successively, the Rumeli Eyalet 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 sanjaks of Edirne, Tekfurdağı , Gelibolu , Filibe , and İslimye . After land reforms in 1867, the Eyalet of Adrianople became the Vilayet of Adrianople . Adrianople/Edirne

3900-457: The Roman Empire in a system of co-emperorship. However, the sons could not govern together peacefully and their military rivalry split the empire on the north–south line along the Balkan Peninsula . The territory was officially split in 395 when Theodosius I (ruled, 379–395) died, leaving his son Honorius emperor of the Western Roman Empire , and his other son Arcadius emperor of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire . Constantinople became

4000-449: The Roman Empire towards Christianization , and in 381, during the reign of Theodosius I, the official state religion of the Roman Empire became Nicene Christianity , turning Constantinople into a thriving religious center. Throughout the fifth century, the Western Roman Empire lost most of its power through a decline in political, economic, and social situations, the last western emperor being deposed by Germanic mercenaries in AD 476;

4100-458: The authorities of the emperor. Finally, in 726 Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (ruled, 717-741) ordered all icons to be destroyed. The destruction of icons reorganized and reoriented the Byzantine rulers in imperial power. The fierce opposition to icons clashed with the Pope 's tolerance of images. The papacy was unwilling to permit sacred images and icons to be destroyed and this caused an eventual separation. Their separation caused hatred between

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4200-471: The beginning of the 21st century, indicate that Istanbul 's historic peninsula was settled as far back as the 6th millennium BCE. That early settlement, important in the spread of the Neolithic Revolution from the Near East to Europe , lasted for almost a millennium before being inundated by rising water levels. The first human settlement on the Asian side, the Fikirtepe mound, is from the Copper Age period, with artifacts dating from 5500 to 3500 BCE. In

4300-453: The capital of the Byzantine Empire. The combination of imperial power and a key location at the crossing point between the continents of Europe and Asia , and later Africa and other regions, played an important role in terms of commerce , culture , diplomacy , and strategy . It was the center of the Greek world and, for most of the Byzantine period, the largest city in Europe. Constantine's conversion to Christianity , in 312, had set

4400-406: The centre, the 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

4500-466: The churches of St. Demetrius and Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The last is served by the 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 faithful, because from

4600-469: The city the unique appearance it still preserves today. The individual communities, though, still lived in self-contained areas. A 16th century Chinese geographical treatise described Constantinople/Istanbul as follows: Its city has two walls. A sovereign prince lives in the city. There are Muslims wearing headwraps and Han-Chinese. There are translators. People cultivated dry fields. It has no products. The statement that there were translators suggests it

4700-420: The city to be plundered for three days. Following the sack, Mehmed's main concern with Constantinople had to do with rebuilding the city's defenses and re-population. Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, and building a new palace. Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle

4800-414: The city was deported to Syria and Mesopotamia during the Armenian genocide 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 Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), Balkan-Muslims fled to Edirne and became known as Muhacir . Adrianople was a sanjak centre during

4900-460: The city were killed almost immediately, with the effect that the other Muslims began to retreat. Witnessing this, the sultan encouraged his soldiers. Soon after the sultan's encouragement the Muslims broke the wall in two places and entered the city. In a last attempt to protect it, Constantine attacked the enemy sword raised; however, he was defeated and killed. Finally, Constantinople was under Ottoman rule. Mehmed entered Constantinople through what

5000-430: The city's economy. https://www.academia.edu/23674853/Edirne_Ta%C5%9F_K%C3%B6pr%C3%BCleri_Edirne_Stone_Bridges Edirne Province Edirne Province ( Turkish : Edirne ili ) 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 km , and its population is 414,714 (2022). Edirne Province

5100-415: The city's population caused a large demand for housing development, and many previously outlying villages and forests became engulfed into the greater metropolitan area of Istanbul. In March 1995, twenty-three people were killed and hundreds were injured in the incidents called Gazi Massacre . The events began with an armed attack on several coffee shops in the neighborhood, where an Alevi religious leader

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5200-430: The city, while Ottoman arts of ceramics and calligraphy also flourished. Sufi orders which were so widespread in the Islamic world and who had many followers who had actively participated in the conquest of the city came to settle in the capital. During Ottoman times over 100 Tekkes were active in the city alone. Many of these Tekkes survive to this day some in the form of mosques while others as museums such as

5300-428: The city, while Ottoman arts of ceramics and calligraphy also flourished. Many tekkes survive to this day; some in the form of mosques while others have become museums such as the Cerrahi Tekke and the Sünbül Efendi and Ramazan Efendi mosques and türbes in Fatih , the Galata Mevlevihanesi in Beyoğlu , the Yahya Efendi tekke in Beşiktaş , and the Bektaşi Tekke in Kadıköy, which now serves Alevi Muslims as

5400-410: The city. 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 Sinan dating back to 1568. The Kavaflar Arastası

5500-403: The city; he demanded that five thousand households needed to be deported to Constantinople by September. By 1459, the Sultan dedicated a lot of energy to bringing prosperity to Constantinople. In several quarters of the city pious foundations were created; these areas consisted of a theological college, a school (or a Madrasa, usually connected to the mosque ), a public kitchen, and a mosque. In

5600-424: The civil point of view belonged to the Bulgarian Vicariate . Later however, the Roman Catholic diocese was discontinued, and exists only in name as a 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

5700-470: The creation of his new capital. On his orders, the great mosque and the college of Fatih were built on the old burial grounds of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles . Bit by bit the great Christian city was transformed into a great Muslim city. Even so, the city was not to be entirely Muslim, at least not until the late 20th century. Slavs , Greeks , Jews , and Armenians , all of whose diverse skills were needed, were allowed to settle in

5800-604: The days of the Roman Empire . 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. The city was reestablished by the Roman Emperor Hadrian on the site of Orestias (named after its mythological founder Orestes ), 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 as Adrianople ). Licinius

5900-419: The distinguishing gap placed between the two churches involved the use of icons in the church. Icons , being images of Christian holy people such as Jesus Christ , the Virgin Mary , and the saints , to Byzantine Christians were more than representations; they were believed to possess holy power that affected people's daily lives While many Byzantines worshiped icons many opposed the icons because they tested

6000-429: The dome to be higher than that of Hagia Sophia , the former Byzantine Orthodox Cathedral in Istanbul , 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

6100-452: The early years of the republic, Istanbul was overlooked in favour of Ankara, the new capital. However, starting from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Istanbul underwent a great structural change, as new public squares (such as Taksim Square ), boulevards and avenues were constructed throughout the city; sometimes at the expense of the demolition of many historical buildings. In September 1955, many ethnic Greek businesses were destroyed during

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6200-410: The eastern half, however, was flourishing. According to historians this flourishing Eastern Roman Empire was then classified as the Byzantine Empire to distinguish it from the Roman Empire. This empire was distinctly Greek in culture , and became the centre of Greek Orthodox Christianity after an earlier split with Rome, and was adorned with many magnificent churches , including Hagia Sophia , once

6300-425: The emperor, in honor of his son. The location of Byzantium attracted Constantine the Great in 324 after a prophetic dream was said to have identified the location of the city; this prophecy was probably due to Constantine's final victory over Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis ( Üsküdar ) on the Bosphorus , on 18 September 324, which ended the civil war between the Roman Co-Emperors, and brought an end to

6400-498: The fighting started, it went on for forty-eight days. The wall was beginning to collapse when Constantine sent a letter to the pope asking for help. In response, the Papacy sent five ships full of reinforcements, weapons, and supplies. Another defense tactic involved Constantine blocking off the Golden Horn so that the Ottoman army could not get ships into it. Mehmed had his people pave a path from oiled tree branches in order to bring eighty ships overland via Galata and placed them into

6500-477: The final assault, he studied previous attempts to take the city to distinguish potentially successful approaches. On the morning of 29 May 1453 the sultan ordered Adzan (the call to prayer). This was not a regular prayer session for religious reasons but rather a scare tactic: the sight of the entire Ottoman army getting on their knees to pray provided an intimidating display of unity to the Byzantine forces designed to overcome their minds before their bodies. Once

6600-451: The final vestiges of the Tetrarchy system, during which Nicomedia (present-day İzmit , 100 km east of Istanbul) was the most senior capital city of the Roman Empire . Byzantium (now renamed as Nova Roma which eventually became Constantinopolis , i.e. The City of Constantine ) was officially proclaimed the new capital of the Roman Empire in 330. At the end of his reign in 337, Constantine declared his three sons as joint heirs of

6700-408: 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 led by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) under Enver Pasha . Although it was victorious in the coup, the CUP was unable to stop the Bulgarians from capturing the city after fighting resumed in

6800-407: 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 (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

6900-410: The later 20th century, the metropolitan population surpassing 10 million in the year 2000. The city's current name İstanbul is a shortened version with a Turkish character of the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" [is tin ˈpolin], meaning "to the city", which had long been in vernacular use by the local population. The international name Constantinople also remained in use until Turkey adopted

7000-400: 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 , who had been mayor for 10 years and did not stand for re-election. The city was founded and named after the Roman emperor Hadrian as Hadrianopolis ( Adrianople in English, / ˌ eɪ d r i ə ˈ n oʊ p əl / ; Ἁδριανούπολις in Greek ) on

7100-416: The medieval period, but as the Ottoman Empire approached its historical peak, the city grew to a population of close to 700,000 in the 16th century, once again ranking among the world's most popular cities. With the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, that country's capital moved from Constantinople to Ankara (previously Angora). Humans have lived in the area now known as Istanbul since at least

7200-706: 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 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

7300-594: The new capital of the Roman Empire . During the reign of Justinian I , the city rose to be the largest in the western world, with a population peaking at close to half a million people. Constantinople functioned as the capital of the Byzantine Empire , which effectively ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Constantinople then became the capital of the Ottoman Turks . The population had declined during

7400-519: The occasion. He also acquired scholars and imams to encourage the soldiers. In accordance with Shariah (Muslim Holy Law), Mehmed gave the Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449–1453) three chances to surrender the city. He guaranteed the safety of the city's residents, with their riches, beliefs, and honor. Constantine valiantly refused the offer. After more than a month of fighting, Mehmed's advisors were beginning to lose hope. Against their counsel, Mehmed continued to fight. The night before

7500-514: The only settlements on the European side of Istanbul. On the Asian side there was a Phoenician colony. Byzantion (Βυζάντιον), Latinized as Byzantium , was the next name of the city. The name is believed to be of Thracian or Illyrian origin and thus predates the Ancient Greek settlement. It may be derived from a Thracian or Illyrian personal name, Byzas . Ancient Greek legend refers to

7600-639: The period of Byzantion, the Acropolis used to stand where the Topkapı Palace stands today. After siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus the city was besieged by Rome and suffered extensive damage in AD 196. Byzantium was rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and quickly regained its previous prosperity, being temporarily renamed as Augusta Antonina by

7700-560: The press, of expression, assembly, and the government's encroachment on Turkey's secularism . In July 2016, the Turkish coup d'état attempt took place. A number of rogue government units took over and were only repelled after a few hours. The troops that had taken part in the coup attempt surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. In June 2019, the main Turkish opposition party won

7800-486: The province, is notable for serving as the third capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1363 to 1453. Edirne province was included in the Second Inspectorate General which was created on the 19 February 1934 and extended over the provinces of Edirne, Çanakkale , Kırklareli , Tekirdağ . It was ruled by an Inspector General , who had wide-ranging authorities over civilian, military and educational matters. The office of

7900-552: The rerun of Istanbul’s mayoral election , meaning Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu became new Mayor of Istanbul . Istanbul’s new airport opened in October 2018, but commenced passenger services in April 2019, and cargo services in February 2022. The new Istanbul Airport replaced the old Atatürk Airport . The new Istanbul airport is one of the biggest airports in

8000-509: The same year, Mehmed sent out orders that any Greeks who had left Constantinople as slaves or refugees should be allowed to return. These actions led it to become a once again thriving capital city, now of the Ottoman Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent 's reign over the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566 was a period of great artistic and architectural achievements. The famous architect Mimar Sinan designed many mosques and other grand buildings in

8100-453: The seat of Ottoman power until 1453, when Mehmed II took Constantinople (present-day Istanbul ) and moved the capital there. The importance of Edirne to the early Ottomans explains the plethora of early Ottoman mosques , medreses and other monuments that have survived until today although the Eski Sarayı (Old Palace) was largely destroyed, leaving only relatively slight remains. Also, there

8200-495: The site of the Greek city of Orestias , which was itself founded on an earlier Thracian settlement named Uskudama. The Ottoman name Edrine (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. The area around Edirne has been the site of numerous major battles and sieges starting from

8300-558: The small Fatih Bridge over the 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. 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

8400-635: 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 under the leadership of Enver Pasha (who proclaimed himself the "second conqueror of Adrianople" after Murad I ) following the collapse of the Bulgarian army in the region. The entire Armenian population of

8500-501: The surrounding park. The Kırkpınar oil-wrestling tournament is held every year in late June or early July. 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. Edirne's economy largely depends on agriculture. 73% of

8600-556: The two churches and cooperation between the two was a struggle. From around the 9th to 13th centuries, Constantinople developed complex relationships with an emerging and later the largest and most advanced state of that time in Europe – Kiev Rus . Constantinople played a significant role in the Kiev Rus development, culture, and politics. Many of the Kiev Princes were married to daughters of

8700-448: The usage of Istanbul in English instead of Constantinople. The U.S. State Department began using "Istanbul" in May 1930. With the establishment of the new Turkish Republic, built on a wave of nationalism, there was a mass exodus of much of the Greek and Armenian population from Istanbul, which had ceased to be the capital. After the pogrom of 1955 , the remaining fraction also departed. In

8800-504: 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 , Anatolia and the Middle East passes through Edirne. Industry is developing. Agriculture-based industries (agro-industries) are especially important for

8900-545: The world's largest cathedral . The seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople , spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church , remains. The most famous Byzantine emperor was Justinian (527-565). During his reign, he extended the Byzantine Empire to its largest boundaries spreading from Palestine to the tip of Spain. His other achievements include the famous Hagia Sophia church and the organized law system called

9000-417: The years following the Turkish conquest. Religious foundations were endowed to fund the building of mosques such as the Fatih (1463) and their associated schools and public baths . The city had to be repopulated by a mixture of force and encouragement. Süleyman's reign was a time of great artistic and architectural achievements. The architect Sinan designed many mosques and other great buildings in

9100-732: Was defeated here by Constantine I in 324, and Emperor Valens was killed by the Goths here during the Battle of Adrianople in 378. In 813, the city was temporarily seized by Khan Krum of Bulgaria who moved its inhabitants to the Bulgarian lands north of the Danube . During the period of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, the Crusaders were defeated by the Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan at

9200-479: Was a multilingual, multicultural, cosmopolitan city. Although the claim that there were "Han-Chinese" is dubious. Until the eighteenth century, living standards were at least equal to most of Europe. For example, the development of urban craftsmen's wages was on a level similar to southern and central Europe during the sixteenth to eighteenth century. "Foundation" is waqf ( vakıf ) in Turkish . The Grand Bazaar (1455) and Topkapı Palace (1459) were erected in

9300-612: Was a vital fortress defending Constantinople and Eastern Thrace during the Balkan Wars 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 during the temporary winter truce of the First Balkan War . The belief that

9400-641: Was an early Byzantine period building. 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:44.1 °C (111.4 °F) on 25 July 2007 Lowest recorded temperature:−19.5 °C (−3.1 °F) on 14 January 1954 Edirne consists of 24 quarters: Edirne

9500-569: Was any settlement on exact spot at city proper established, but earliest records about city proper begins around 660 BC when Greek settlers from the Attic town of Megara colonized the area and established Byzantium on the European side of the Bosphorus . It fell to the Roman Republic in 196 BC, and was known as Byzantium in Latin until 330, when the city, soon renamed as Constantinople , became

9600-580: 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 , 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

9700-534: Was killed. Protests occurred both in Gazi and Ümraniye district on the Asian side of İstanbul. Police responded with gunfire. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , later Prime Minister of Turkey and President of Turkey , served as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. In 2013, Taksim Square was the center of the Gezi Park protests , where protesters protested a wide range of concerns at the core of which were issues of freedom of

9800-570: Was only after 1922, following the war between Greece and Turkey that things began to change. The city was modernized from the 1870s onwards with the building of bridges, the creation of a proper water system, the use of electric lights, and the introduction of trams and telephones . In 1915, after the Ottoman entry into World War I on the side of the Central Powers , the Allies led by First Lord of

9900-500: Was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from its conquest in 1453 until the empire's collapse in 1922. On 29 May 1453, Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" entered Constantinople after a 53–day siege during which his cannon had torn a huge hole in the Walls of Theodosius II . The city became the fourth and final capital of the Ottoman Empire . Mehmed had begun the siege on 6 April 1453. He had hired engineers to build cannons and bombs for

10000-464: Was to capture the Byzantine Empire as well. In 1204, western armies captured Constantinople and ransacked the city for treasures. The pope decried the sacking of Constantinople but ordered the crusaders to consolidate their gains in the city for a year. The crusaders chose Baldwin of Flanders to be the new Latin Emperor of Constantinople ; he along with other princes and the Republic of Venice divided

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