Enez
Enez | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 40°43′20″N 26°05′00″E / 40.72222°N 26.08333°E | |
Country | Turkey |
Province | Edirne |
District | Enez |
Government | |
• Mayor | Özkan Günenç (CHP) |
Population (2022)[1] | 4,301 |
Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Area code | 0284 |
Website | www |
Enez is a town in Edirne Province, in East Thrace, Turkey. The ancient name of the town was Ainos (Greek: Αίνος), Latinised as Aenus. It is the seat of Enez District.[2] Its population is 4,301 (2022).[1] The mayor is Özkan Günenç (CHP).
Enez consists of an old town centre, backing on to the Meriç/Evros river forming the border with neighbouring Greece; the harbour and Pırlanta Beach, 3 km southwest across the lagoon; and Altınkum Sahili (Golden Sands Beach), another 2 km south, which has been developed as a resort strip mainly catering for domestic tourists.
Despite Enez's proximity to the Greek border there is no crossing point by land here. To cross the border into Greece it is necessary to travel north to İpsala.
Location
The town is located on the left (eastern) bank of the river
History
Antiquity
The mythical and eponymous founder of the ancient Greek city of Ainos/Aenus was said to be
The Suda suggests that the first settlers were Greeks from the Alopeconnesus and later more settlers came from Mytilene and Kyme[4] which agrees with what Harpocration had written.[5]
Presumably because of the similarity of the names, Virgil had Aeneas founding the city after the destruction of Troy.[6] A surer sign of its antiquity comes from the Iliad, where Homer mentions that Peirous, who led Troy's Thracian allies, came from Aenus.[7]
As a subject ally of Athens, Aenus provided peltasts at the Battle of Sphacteria in 425 BC and sent forces to the Sicilian Expedition in 415.[3]
During the Hellenistic period Ainos changed hands multiple times. After a spell of Macedonian rule, the city passed to
Byzantine period
The city is mentioned first among the cities of the province of
In 1347, John Palaiologos, Marquess of Montferrat, planned to take over the city.
Ottoman period
With the gradual Ottoman conquest of
In 1463 Ainos was given by Mehmed II to the deposed
Modern period
The town gave its name to the Enos-Midia line, which briefly marked the border of the Ottoman Empire in Europe in the disastrous aftermath of the First Balkan War. The border was shifted further northwest after the Turks made some limited gains in the Second Balkan War, recapturing the city of Edirne.
Enez had a large Greek population, and was affected from the 19th century onwards by ethnic conflicts and nationalistic aspirations. After the Turkish War of Independence (1919-23), the Treaty of Lausanne drew the current borders of Turkey and required Greek communities to leave Turkey while Turkish communities left Greece and Bulgaria.
Overnight Enez became a provincial backwater, a dead-end, up against an unfriendly border. It was a garrison town and military zone, off-limits to foreigners, right into the 21st century. Although foreigners are now allowed to visit, modern Enez makes a living largely from local tourism. Improved highways bring many weekenders from Istanbul. - the original town has a steady population while that of the beach strip soars in summer and drops to near zero in winter.
Enez remains the westernmost Turkish town on the European continent (excluding
Attractions
Enez was the site of a Byzantine Church of Hagia Sophia built in the 12th century (although some sources suggest the sixth century) but converted into a mosque during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. The mosque was repaired several times in the 18th century but was left in ruins after an earthquake in 1965. Work began on a new restoration in 2016 and the mosque reopened for worship in 2021.[15]
The mosque stands inside the remains of Enez Castle (Turkish: Enez Kalesi) which probably dates back to the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and was probably built as a defence against raids from the Balkans. [16]
The Has Yunus Bey Türbesi is a historic mosque and graveyard 300 m south of the castle which started life as a Byzantine chapel. Has Yunus Bey was the commander who captured Enez for the Ottomans and who was buried here.[17]
The only historic monument in the resort area of Enez is the Sahil KervansarayI, the shell of an Ottoman caravanserai, which might have functioned as a customs office. It's believed to date back to the 16th century, when it probably stood on the coastline, now 500 m away. Local accounts suggest that it served a military function during the First World War, and it's therefore known as the İngiliz Kışlası ("English barracks").[18]
Ecclesiastical history
The city was already an episcopal see in the 4th century under bishop Olympius who was driven from the see by the
Between 1285 and 1315, the see was awarded to the Metropolitan of
Notable people
- Python of Aenus, a Greek philosopher
- Heraclides of Aenus, a Greek philosopher
See also
References
- ^ TÜİK. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19954556-8, "Aenus"
- ^ Suda Encyclopedia, § al.1389
- ^ Harpokration, Lexicon of the Ten Orators, § a54
- ^ Virgil, Aeneid, 3,18
- ^ Iliad, 4,520
- ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, 7.57
- ^ a b c William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), "Aenus"
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Soustal 1991, p. 170.
- ^ Soustal 1991, pp. 170–171.
- ^ a b c d e f Soustal 1991, p. 171.
- ^ William Miller, "The Gattilusj of Lesbos (1355–1462)", Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 22 (1913), pp. 431f
- ISBN 978-1-84511-895-2.
- ^ Agency, Anadolu (2021-06-14). "Turkey's Hagia Sophia of Enez to reopen for worship". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
- ^ "Enez Castle | Turkish Archaeological News". turkisharchaeonews.net. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
- ^ "HAS YÛNUS BEY TÜRBESİ". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-10-31.
- ^ "Enez Sahil Kervansarayı". Haberler (in Turkish). 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
- OCLC 955922585.
- ^ Sophrone Pétridès, v. 2. Aenus, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. I, Paris 1909, coll. 660-661
- ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 888
Sources
- Soustal, Peter (1991). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 6: Thrakien (Thrakē, Rodopē und Haimimontos) (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 170–173. ISBN 3-7001-1898-8.