Country Turkey Population 176,848 (2012) University Namik Kemal University Area 1,111.53 km2 | Mayor Adem Dalgic (CHP) | |
Tekirdag ( see also its other names), is a city in Turkey. It is a part of the region historically known as Eastern Thrace. Tekirdag is the capital of Tekirdag Province. The city population as of 2009 was 140,535. There are honorary consulates of Hungary and Bulgaria in Tekirdag.
Contents
Map of Tekirdag
Tekirdag raki spot
Name
Tekirdag was called Bisanthe or Bysanthe (Greek: ), and also Rhaedestus (?????????) in classical antiquity. The latter name was used till the Byzantine era, transformed to Rodoscuk after it fell to the Ottomans in the 14th century (in western languages usually rendered as Rodosto). After the 18th century it was called Tekfurdagi, based on the Turkish word tekfur, meaning "Byzantine feudal lord" – though this etymology has been challenged. In time, the name mutated into the Turkish Tekirdag, and this became the official name under the Turkish Republic. The historical name "Rhaedestos" (transcribed also as Raidestos) was continuously used till today in Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical context (e.g. Bishop of Raidestos, Metropolitanate of Heraclia and Raidestos (18th-19th centuries).
Location
Tekirdag is situated on the northern coast of the Sea of Marmara, 135 kilometres (84 miles) west of Istanbul. The picturesque bay of Tekirdag is enclosed by the great promontory of the mountain which gives its name to the city, Tekir Dagi (ancient Combos), a spur about 2000 ft. that rises into the hilly plateau to the north. Between Tekirdag and Sarkoy is another mountain, Ganos Dagi.
History
The history of the city of Tekirdag dates back to around 4000 BC. The ancient Greek city of Rodosto is said to have been founded by Samians. In Xenophon’s Anabasis it is mentioned to be a part of the kingdom of the Thracian prince Seuthes. It is also mentioned as Bisanthe by Herodotus (VII, 137).
Its restoration by Justinian I in the 6th century AD is chronicled by Procopius. In 813 and again in 1206 it was sacked by the Bulgarians after the Battle of Rodosto, but it continued to appear as a place of considerable note in later Byzantine history. It was also ruled by Venetians between 1204-1235. The 11th-century Byzantine historian Michael Attaleiates owned property in Raidestos which he describes in his will.
In the Ottoman period the city was successively a part of the vilayet (province) of Rumelia, Kaptanpasa (centered at Gelibolu), Silistre and Edirne.
In 1905, the city had a population of about 35,000; of whom half were Greeks who were exchanged with Muslims living in Greece under the 1923 agreement for Exchange of Greek Orthodox and Muslim Populations between the two countries.
Tekirdag was for many years a depot for the produce of the Edirne province, but its trade suffered when Alexandroupolis became the terminus of the railway up the river Maritsa.