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Tekirdag is a city in Eastern Thrace, (the
European part of Turkey, close to Istanbul). Tekirdag is the capital of
Tekirdag Province and is actually a smaller, quieter town than the
industrial centre of Corlu, which it administers. The population as of
2000 was 107,082.It is famous for its meatball called "Tekirdag köfte" and the Turkish alcoholic drink called Tekirdag Raki.
Location
Tekirdag is situated on the coast of the Sea of Marmara, 135 km west of Istanbul. The picturesque bay of Tekirdag is enclosed by the great promontory of the mountain which gives its name to the city, Tekir Dagı (ancient Combos), a spur about 2000 ft. in height from the hilly plateau to the north. Between Tekirdag and Şarköy is another mountain, Ganos Dagı .
Tekirdag today
Today the Tekirdag area is the site of many holiday homes as the area is 90 minutes by road or train from nearby Istanbul. The road follows the coast and the villages of Şarköy, Mürefte and Kumbag are particularly popular. Much of this holiday property has been built in an unregulated and unplanned manner and thus much of the coast seems very crowded and over-built. And the sea is not all that clean either, but there are still places to access the seaside near Tekirdag.
Tekirdag itself is a typical Turkish commercial town centre with a little harbour and little to offer to visitors. Most of the Ottoman wooden buildings have been replaced by practical concrete blocks but the town has neither modern sophistication, nor antique charm, nor any night-life. There is a quiet rural hometown feel to the place, preserved partly as people can sometimes go into Istanbul for big shopping and entertainment. In winter their air is thick with smoke from coal-fired central heating. However there is one reason to visit; the local delicacy is the small spicy cylindrical grilled meatballs (or mini-burgers) called Tekirdag köfte. This can be followed with a local cheese and semolina pudding.
Tekirdag is home to the port of Martas and the Botas Terminal; both important for trade activities of Marmara Region.
The inland areas are still farmland, growing crops including cherries, sunflowers, and grapes for making wine and thus the high quality rakı for which Tekirdag is noted. There is a prison next to the rakı distillery, the smell of the aniseed must make incarceration particularly uncomfortable. The distilleries were state-owned until the 1990s but are now in private hands and the wine and rakı industries are undergoing a renewal.
The University of Thrace Trakya Üniversitesi has a faculty of agriculture in Tekirdag. However in 2006 it has been announced that a new university, named Namık Kemal Üniversitesi, will be founded here with faculties of science and medicine.
Places of interest
- The Rakoczi Museum, a 17th century Turkish house where the Hungarian national hero,Francis II Rákóczi lived during his exile, from 1720 till his death in 1735. The house bears a particular importance for Hungarians and for all those with Hungarian roots. Today, the museum is property of the State of Hungary and is widely visited, having become a place of national pilgrimage.
- The church of Panagia (Virgin Mary) Rheumatocratissa contains the graves, with long Latin inscriptions, of other Hungarian who took refuge here with their leader.
- The birth place of 19th-century poet, Namık Kemal, now a museum to his life and work.
- Of all the statues of Atatürk in Turkey the town centre of Tekirdag holds the only one that was made exactly life-size.
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