Photos of Edirne, the second major capital of the Ottomans, Turkey

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Edirne, the second major capital of the Ottomans

Edirne, in the north-west of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, is a city of almost 170,000 people. It was founded in the 2nd Century by the Roman emperor Hadrian on the site of Uskudama, a former Thracian settlement and named Hadrianopolis, after the emperor. He adorned it with monuments and made it the capital of the Roman province of Thrace. Emperor Constantine I, who had founded nearby Constantinople as its capital, defeated his rival Emperor Licinius here in 323. Eastern Roman Emperor Valens was killed here in what has become known as the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths, in 378. This defeat started a process leading to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th Century.

Saraçlar Caddesi
 
Walking, Saraçlar Caddesi
 
Çilingirler Caddesi
 
Traditional architecture
 
Old wooden house
 
Traditional house
 
Statue of Mimar Sinan
 
Ottoman headstones
 
Inner dome, Selimiye Camii
 
Interior, Selimiye Camii
 
Celing, Selimiye Camii
 
Display of a boy being taught
 
Üç Şerefeli Mosque
 
Minaret, Üç Şerefeli Mosque
 
Minaret, Üç Şerefeli Mosque
 
Üç Şerefeli Mosque interior
 
Old Mosque (Eski Camii)
 
Interior, Eski Camii
 
Inner dome, Eski Camii
 
Bedesten Çarşısı
 
Shining shoes
 
View from Yalnızgöz Bridge
 
Sultan Bayezid II Complex
 
Medical school courtyard
 
Sultan Bayezid II mosque dome
 
Inside the Bayezid II mosque
 
Display of medical procedures
 
The Bayezid Bridge
 
Meriç Bridge
 
Edirne Ulus Pazarı
 
Beylerbeyi Mosque
 
Saraçhane Köprüsü
 
Gate, Edirne Palace
 
Balkan Wars Memorial Cemetery
 
Oil-wrestling champions
 
Oil-wrestling champions
 

The Latin Empire of Constantinople, a feudal Crusader state, had been established after crusaders had seized lands from the Byzantine Empire in 1204. A year later the crusaders were defeated by the forces of the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan in another Battle of Adrianople. The Latin Emperor Baldwin I was captured by the Bulgarians and died in captivity. The Latin Empire lasted until 1261 and Adrianople with its surrounds passed to a variety of administrators. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire had been established in Anatolia and started its expansion. In 1361 Sultan Murad I invaded Thrace and captured Adrianople around 1369. Given the Turkish name “Edirne”, it became the Ottoman capital. Sultan Mehmed II, who became known as “Mehmed the Conquerer” was born here and in 1453 he moved the capital to Constantinople, the city he had conquered that year.

Edirne remained important, the principal city of the Eyalet of Edirne, an administrative unit; in 1867, after land reforms, it became the capital of the Vilayet of Edirne. During the Ottoman years, many beautiful mosques were constructed; the most important was the Selimiye Mosque, commissioned by Sultan Selim II, and built by architect Mimar Sinan between 1569 and 1575. Sinan himself considered the Selimiye Mosque his masterpiece. Another important building is the Sultan Bayezid II Health Museum, a hospital museum of Trakya University. It is within the Complex of Bayezid II Külliye, an Ottoman architectural concept that designates a complex of buildings centred on a mosque. It was built in 1488 by the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II, who reigned from 1481–1512. Today Edirne is a wonderful city to visit, on the highway between Sofia and İstanbul.