Toponym By 1000 B.C. the area was a Phrygian-Greek colony named Tzirallum, Tzirallun, or Tzirallon (Τζίραλλον). During Roman and Byzantine times, the town was referred to as Tzouroulos (Tsurulos), or Syrallo. The spelling ‘Zorolus’ is used for the Latinized form of the name of the episcopal see identified with present-day Çorlu in the Catholic Church’s list of titular sees. Some writers have identified the Roman town of Caenophrurium (the stronghold of the Caeni and the place where Emperor Aurelian was murdered in 275) with Çorlu, but this seems unlikely as the Antonine Itinerary lists Cenofrurium as two stages and 36 miles closer [...]
Archives: Regions
Our CPT for the regions
Kaza of Malkara / Μάλγαρα – Malgara
Malkara is located in the agricultural center of Thrace. The landscape is partly wooded and hilly. The main products are cheese and wheat. Malkara/Malgara (source: https://www.eskiturkiye.net/arama/Malkara) Toponym The ancient Persian place name Malgara (Trk.: Malkara) is derived from the Persian word margaar (‘cave of snakes’). Alternatively the town may be named after the general Malgar in the army of Alexander the Great who built a fortress here after they had succeeded in bringing to an end the Persian 30-year occupation of Thrace. These fortifications remained in use up until the Byzantine period. History Thrace was the scene of fighting during the Persian Wars. The ancient [...]
Sancak of Rodosto / Ῥαιδεστός – Raidestos / Βισάνθη – Bisanthe / Tekfürtaği / Tekirdağ
Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Rodosto / Tekirdag / Tekfürtaği Toponym Situated in Eastern Thrace (Propontis) on the Sea of Marmara, the port city and administrative seat of the Ottoman sancak of Tekfürtaği (Tekfürdağı) was called Bisanthe or Bysanthe (Βισάνθη/Βυσάνθη), and also Raidestos (Ῥαιδεστός) in classical antiquity. The latter name was used until the Byzantine era, transformed to Rodosçuk after it fell to the Ottomans in the 14th century (in western languages usually rendered as Rodosto). After the 18th century it was called Tekfür Dağı (‘Tekfür Mountain’), based on the Turkish word tekfur (Ottoman Turkish: تكور, romanized: tekvur), which was a [...]
Kaza of Adrianople / Αδριανούπολις – Adrianoupolis / Edirne
Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Adrianople / Edirne Administration Adrianople was a sancak center and was bound to, successively, the Rumeli Eyalet (Eyalet Rumelia)and Silistre Eyalet before becoming a provincial capital of the Eyalet of Edirne at the beginning of the 19th century. At times Edirne was also the residence of the governor of the Rumeli Eyalet. Adrianople, Selimiye Mosque (1900s; source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edirne#/media/File:280713-2114AA.jpg) City of Adrianople / Αδριανούπολις – Adrianoupolis / Edirne Population According to the 1878 Ethnographie des Vilayets d’Andrinople, de Monastir et de Salonique, Edirne had 16,220 households with about 58,000 male inhabitants in 1873. Turks made up the largest proportion followed [...]
Sancak of Adrianople / Αδριανούπολις – Adrianoupolis / Edirne
Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Adrianople / Edirne Administration In the late 19th century, the sancak of Adrianople comprised a territory of 6,600 square kilometers.[1] Landscape near Edirne (East Thrace; source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/EastTrace_Landscape.jpg) Population According to the Ottoman census of 1910, the sancak of Adrianople had an overall population of 287,700; of these, 128,000 were Turks, 113,500 Greeks, 31,500 Bulgarians and 14,700 “others”.[2] Armenian Population On the eve of the First World War, there lived 7,948 Armenians in five localities of the sancak of Adrianople. They maintained seven churches and monasteries and 6 schools with an enrolment of 565 pupils.[3] [...]