Uzunköprü
| Uzunköprü | |
|---|---|
 Uzunköprü
|
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| Coordinates: 41°16′01″N 26°41′15″E / 41.26694°N 26.68750°ECoordinates: 41°16′01″N 26°41′15″E / 41.26694°N 26.68750°E | |
| Country |
 Turkey
|
| Province | Edirne |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Enis İşbilen (CHP) |
| • Kaymakam | Kemal Yıldız |
| Area | |
| • District | 1,213.00 km2 (468.34 sq mi) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • City | 70.977 |
| • Urban | 39.123 |
| • District | 31.854 |
| • District density | 0.026/km2 (0.068/sq mi) |
| Website | www |
Uzunköprü (in English long bridge) is a town in Edirne Province in Turkey. It is named after a historical stone bridge, claimed to be the world’s longest, on the Ergene River. It is a strategically important border town, located on the routes connecting Turkey to the Balkans and Europe. Uzunköprü is the largest and the second most populous town of Edirne Province.
The town is served by Uzunköprü railway station.
The history of Uzunköprü goes back to the Neolithic Era (8000-5500) [Reference is required]. In the field surveys conducted in Maslıdere situated on the way going to Kırkkavak village to the south a lot of ware fragments overlaid with ornamental striped and pressed figures have been found that their congeners have never been encountered in Greece and Bulgaria [Reference is required]. Nevertheless, the information about this era is inadequate because the researches haven’t been taken further. In addition, the history of the region from these ages to the 15th century BC is still unknown, so the previous claims do not stand.
In 15th century BC the land began to be settled by the Thracians and they had become tho sole owner of the place for a long time [Reference is required]. However, after the 7th century BC the Thracian domination came to end by the continuous invasions over the years and got into the hands sequentially of Greeks, Persians, Macedonians, Romans and Byzantines.
Although the region has a very old past, a city had never been able to be built on the area where today’s Uzunkopru exists because it’d been covered with vast swamps and dense forests till the Ottomans. That’s why, the closest city to today’s settlement built in the region is Plotinopolis, established by the Roman Emperor Trajan (AD 53-117) on the banks of the Maritsa River between Uzunkopru and Didymoteicho in Greek Thrace, that was named after Trajan’s wife Pompeia Plotina and became a bishopric, suffragan of Adrianople. This ancient city is also called Old Uzunkopru. Eventually, the region was captured from the Byzantine by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Adrianopolis (renamed Edirne) in the Sazlıdere War in 1363 and only afterwards it could be possible for Uzunkopru city to be established.
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Wikipedia