41º40N 26º34E, pop (2001e) 125 600. Capital of Edirne province, NW Turkey; near the Bulgarian border WNW of Istanbul at the junction of the Maritsa and Tundzha rivers; ancient Thracian town rebuilt and renamed after the Roman emperor Hadrian (2nd-c); site of Battle of Adrianople (378); Selimiye Mosque (16th-c); railway; textiles, soap, leather, carpets, cheese; grease-wrestling contest (Jun).
Edirne (Greek: Αδριανούπολη, Bulgarian: Одрин) is a city in Thrace, the westernmost part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. The city was known in English until after the First World War as Adrianople (see below, and also List of traditional Greek place names). Edirne is the capital of Edirne Province (Turkish Thrace) and its estimated population in 2002 was 128,400, up from 119,298 in 2000.
The city initially took its name after its Roman (re)founder, and the usage remains current in Greek, though it has fallen into desuetude in English and other languages.
History
The area around Edirne has been the site of no fewer than 15 major battles or sieges, from the days of the ancient Greeks.
According to Greek mythology, Orestes, son of king Agamemnon, built this city as Orestias, at the confluence of the Tonsus (Toundja) and the Ardiscus (Arda) with the Hebrus (Maritza).
During the existence of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, Theodore, Despot of Epirus, took possession of it in 1227, and two years later was killed there by Asen, King of the Bulgarians.
In particular, the catastrophic defeat of the Roman Emperor Valens by the Visigoths took place nearby, and the city was a vital fortress defending Ottoman Constantinople and Eastern Thrace during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. The city was, however, occupied by imperial Russian troops in 1829, during the war for Grecian independence, and in 1878, in the war for Bulgarian independence, by the Bulgarians in the 1910s and by the Greeks in the early 1920s.
Under Ottman rule Adrianople was the principal city of a vilayet (province) of the same name (both nowrenamed dirne), which has about 960,000 inhabitants.
Ecclesiastical history
Adrianople was made the see of a Greek metropolitan and of a Gregorian Armenian bishop, Adrianople is also the centre of a Bulgarian diocese, but not recognized and deprived of a bishop.
From the standpoint of the Oriental Catholics, Adrianople was the residence of a Bulgarian vicar-apostolic for the 4,600 Uniats of the Ottoman vilayet (province) of Thrace and of the principality of Bulgaria.
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.
Culture, sites and partnership with Europe
Edirne is a gateway of Turkey opening to western world, the first stopover for newcomers from Europe. Situated on the Greek (7 km) and Bulgarian (20 km) borders, this beautiful city is famed for its many mosques, the elegant domes and minarets, which dominate the panoramic appearance of the province.
Adrianople contains the ruins of the ancient palace of the Sultans, and has many beautiful mosques.
Also needing mention are the Trakya University Sultan Bayezid II Complex and Health Care Museum, a great monument with its complex construction comprising many facilities used in those times.
Besides the fascinating mosques, there are different sites to be visited in Edirne, all reflecting its rich past.
A cultural partnership with Loerrach in Germany have been started in 2006.
Education
Trakya University linked with Loerrach through the Erasmus programme of the EU Website Trakya University Edirne University of Cooperative Education LoerrachMiscellanea
Edirne is famous for its "liver in oil", white cheese and "fruit shaped soaps".
Every year in June there is an oil-wrestling festival called Kırkpınar, said to be the oldest active sport organization after the Olympic Games (which were refoudned after centuries of inactivity).
Mehmet II, the famous conquerer of Constantinople, was born in Adrianople.
Sources and external links
Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about: Adrianople (city) This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. GigaCatholic Pictures of this city, its mosques and other monuments Famous places with information and photographs in Edirne Pictures of Edirne Edirne Web Portal Edirne Directory A site dedicated to the city of Edirne Edirne Weather Forecast Information
Coordinates: 41°40′N 26°34′E
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