Edirne

Edirne, formerly Adrianople (ancient Hadrianopolis or Adrianopolis), city in northwestern Turkey, capital of Edirne Province, near Bulgaria, situated on both banks of the Tunca River, at its confluence with the Meriç. Edirne lies in the center of the fertile Thracian coastal plain and is a marketplace for fruit, wine grapes, tobacco, grains, and other agricultural products. The principal items manufactured in the city are cheese, wine, silk, cotton, linen, woolen goods, leather articles, and tapestries. Raw silk, rose water, attar of roses, opium, wax, and “Turkey-red” dye are among the city's exported products. Local points of interest include the Selimiye Mosque, built in the 1500s by the famous Turkish architect Sinan, and the mosque of Bayazid, completed in 1488. Major roads connect the city with İstanbul and points in central Europe.

Edirne was originally part of Eastern Thrace and was known as Uskadama or Uskudama. The city was rebuilt by the Roman emperor Hadrian about ad125 and renamed Hadrianopolis. It was the focal point of the Battle of Adrianople (ad378), in which the Romans under Emperor Valens were defeated by the Goths. Edirne was then conquered successively by the Avars, the Bulgarians, and the Crusaders (see Crusades). In 1361 the Ottoman Turks gained control of the city, and the Ottoman sultans lived here until 1453; during this period the city served as European capital of the Ottoman Empire. Edirne constantly changed hands during the Russo-Turkish wars of 1828-1829 and 1877-1878, and also during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). Population (1990) 102,345.