History The area around Edirne has been the site of no fewer than 16 major battles or si eges, from

the days of the ancient Greeks. Military historian John Keegan identi fies it as "the most contested spot on the globe" and attributes this to its geo graphical location. Kasr-i Adalet (Tower of Justice) 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) wit h the Hebrus (Maritza). The city was (re)founded eponymously by the Roman Empero r Hadrian on the site of a previous Thracian settlement known as Uskadama, Uskud ama or Uskodama or Uscudama . It was the capital of the Bessi.[4] or of the Odry sians. Hadrian developed it, adorned it with monuments, changed its name to Hadr ianopolis, and made it the capital of the Roman province of Haemimont, or Thrace . Licinius was defeated there by Constantine I in 323, and Valens was killed by the Goths in 378 during the Battle of Adrianople (378). In 813 the city was seiz ed by Khan Krum of Bulgaria who moved its inhabitants to the Bulgarian lands tow ards the north of the Danube. During the existence of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, the Crusaders were d ecisively defeated by the Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan in the battle of Adrianople (1205). Later Theodore Komnenos, Despot of Epirus, took possession of it in 1227 , and three years later was defeated at Klokotnitsa by Asen, Emperor of the Bulg arians. Symbolic inscription consisting of two "waw" letters on the walls of the Eski Ca mi (Old Mosque, also known as Ulu Cami, meaning Grand Mosque) built between 1403 and 1414.[5] The date of the capture of the town by the Turks is discussed, the various years proposed by historians ranging from 1361 to 1371. From the reign of Ottoman Sul tan Murad I to 1453, Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, un til the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) which became the empire's new capital. Under Ottoman rule Adrianople was the principal city of a vilayet the same name, both of which were later renamed as Edirne. Sultan conqueror of Constantinople, was born in Adrianople. It was here nder the influence of some Hurufis known as Certain accursed ones ance, who were burnt as heretics by Mahmut Pasa.[6] (province) of Mehmed II, the that he fell u of no signific

Sultan Mehmed IV left the palace in Constantinople and died in Edirne in 1693. Bah'u'llh, the founder of the Bah' Faith, lived in Edirne from 1863 to 1868. He was exiled there by the Ottoman Empire before being banished further to the Ottoman penal colony in Akka. He referred to Edirne in his writings as the "Land of Myst ery".[7] Ottoman klliye and hospital built by Bayezid II Edirne was a sanjak centre during the Ottoman period and was bound to, successiv ely, the Rumeli Eyalet and Silistre Eyalet before becoming a province centre at the beginning of the 19th century. Edirne Province comprised the sanjaks of Edir ne, Tekfurdagi, Gelibolu, Filibe and Islimye before 1878. The Entrance to the Railway Station bordering the Trakya University campus in Ed irne The subdivisions of the Edirne Province before 1878 were:[8] Sanjak of Edirne: Kazas of Edirne, Dimetoka, Kirkkilise, Maa imren Cisr-i Mus tafa Pasa, Cisr-i Ergene, Babay-i Atik, Beykar Hisar, Maa Hatunili-Kizilaga, Havs

a, Ferecik. Sanjak of Islimye: Kazas of Islimye, Ahyolu, Misivri, Burgaz, Aydos, Karinab ad, Yanbolu and Zagra-i Cedit. Sanjak of Gelibolu: Kazas of Gelibolu, Gmlcine, Sarky, Enez, Evrese and Kesan. Gmlcine was a kaza of the Filibe sanjak at the beginning of the 19th century. Sanjak of Filibe: Kazas of Filibe, Pazarcik, Zagra-i Atik, Hasky, Kazanli, irp an, Ahielebi, Sultanyeri. Sanjak of Tekfurdagi: Kazas of Tekfurdagi, Vize, orlu, Lleburgaz, Malkara, Mid ye, Hayrabolu. The subdivisions of the Edirne Province between 1878-1912 were:[9] Sanjak of Edirne: Kazas of Edirne, Havsa, Dimetoka, Mustafapasa, Ortaky, Cisr -i Ergene and Kircaali. Sanjak of Kirkkilise: Kazas of Kirkkilise, Ahtabolu, Vize, Midye, Lleburgaz, Babaeski and Tirnovacik. Sanjak of Tekfurdagi: Kazas of Tekfurdagi, orlu, Malkara and Hayrabolu. Sanjak of Gelibolu: Kazas of Gelibolu, Eceovasi (its center was Maydos and r enamed as Eceabat in 1923), Mrefte, Sarky and Kesan. Sanjak of Dedeaga: Kazas of Dedeaga, Enez and Sofulu. Sanjak of Gmlcine: Kazas of Gmlcine, Iskee, Ahielebi, Daridere, Egridere and Sulta nyeri. Edirne 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. Th e city suffered greatly in 1905 from a conflagration. In 1905 it had about 80,00 0 inhabitants, of whom 30,000 were Muslims (Turks and some Albanians, Roma and C ircassians); 22,000 Greeks; 10,000 Bulgarians; 4,000 Armenians; 12,000 Jews; and 2,000 more citizens of non-classifiable ethnic/religious backgrounds. Edirne wa s a vital fortress defending Ottoman Constantinople and Eastern Thrace during th e Balkan Wars of 1912 13. It was briefly occupied by the Bulgarians in 1913, follo wing the Battle of Odrin; and by the Greeks between the Treaty of Svres in 1920 a nd the end of the Turkish War of Independence in 1922. According to the 2007 census, Edirne Province had a population of 382,222 inhabi tants. The city is a thriving center of commerce for woven textiles, silks, carp ets and agricultural products.