Lüleburgaz (,

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

: Λουλέ Μπουργκάς ''Lule Burgas'',

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

: Люлебургаз ''Lyuleburgaz''), Bergoulion (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Βεργούλιον) or Arcadiopolis (Ancient Greek: Αρκαδιόυπολις ''Arkadiópolis'') is the largest city and district of

Kırklareli Province Kırklareli Province ( tr, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in northwestern Turkey on the west coast of the Black Sea. The province neighbours Bulgaria to the north along a long border. It borders the province of Edirne to the west and the ...

in the

Marmara region The Marmara Region ( Turkish: ''Marmara Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. Located in northwestern Turkey, it is bordered by Greece and the Aegean Sea to the west, Bulgaria and the Black Sea to the north, the Black Sea Region to the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Located near the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with Bulgaria within the historic region of

East Thrace East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...

Rumelia Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...

, the city is home to many

Balkan Turks The Balkan Turks or Rumelian Turks ( tr, ) are the Turkish people who have been living in the Balkans since the Ottoman rule as well as their descendants who still live in the region today. The Turks are officially recognized as a minority in Bos ...

from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and ex-Yugoslavia who immigrated to Turkey since the 19th century. Lüleburgaz is a hub for road and rail transportation, with the city being connected to Istanbul and Edirne by the Istanbul-Kapikule Regional Train and to Plovdiv, Sofia, Belgrade, Bucharest and Budapest by the

Bosphorus Express The Bosphorus Express, also known as the Trans Balkan Express ( tr, Bosfor Ekspresi), is an international passenger train running between Istanbul, Turkey and Bucharest, Romania. It runs together with the Istanbul-Sofia Express as far as Dimitr ...

and the Istanbul-Sofia Express. The city has an urban population of 122,635 (2021 census). Its best known attraction is the 16th-century Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, named after the

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

Mehmet Paşa Sokolović and designed by the Ottoman chief

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan ( ota, معمار سينان, translit=Mi'mâr Sinân, , ) ( 1488–1490 – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha (title), Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman Empir ...

who also designed a bridge for the city.

History

The city used to be the capital of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliff ...

, established by the Roman Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

in 294. The city's ancient name was

Bergula Bergule or Bergula or Bergoule ( grc, Βεργούλη), also Bergulium or Bergoulion (Βεργούλιον), also called Bergulae or Virgulae, was a town in ancient Thrace, which was in later times called Arcadiopolis, Arcadiupolis, or Arkadioupo ...

but Emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

changed it to Arcadiopolis in honour of his son and successor

Arcadius Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ea ...

. The city of Arcadiopolis fell to

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

during his campaign against the Eastern Roman Empire in 443 AD. During the revolt of

Thomas the Slav Thomas the Slav ( gr, Θωμᾶς ὁ Σλάβος, Thōmas ho Slavos, – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Byzantine emperor, E ...

against

Michael II Michael II ( gr, Μιχαὴλ, , translit=Michaēl; 770–829), called the Amorian ( gr, ὁ ἐξ Ἀμορίου, ho ex Amoríou) and the Stammerer (, ''ho Travlós'' or , ''ho Psellós''), reigned as Byzantine Emperor from 25 December 820 to ...

, the city was Thomas' last refuge after the defection of his troops in 823. Michael II invested the city and after more than five months of siege, the exhausted and starving troops gave up their leader in exchange for an imperial pardon. Thomas was handed over on a donkey and tortured. The Battle of Arcadiopolis of 970 saw the Byzantine forces defeat an invading Kievan-

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

- Magyar force who were aiming to capture

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, to the east. As the capital of the

, Acradiopolis had its own bishop, who was recorded as attending a number of important church councils; it was noted as an

autocephalous Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Ort ...

archbishopric by the seventh century. It is no longer a residential bishopric, although the Diocese of Arcadiopolis survives as a Roman Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

Marcel Lefebvre Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (; 29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a French Catholic archbishop who greatly influenced modern traditional Catholicism. In 1970, he founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a community to train ...

, the founder of the

Society of Saint Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Sec ...

, was one of its

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

s. The Battle of Lüleburgas was fought between 28 October and 2 November 1912 during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

. The city was occupied by the Greek army between 1920 and 1922, before becoming part of the Modern Turkish Republic.

Economy

The economy of Lüleburgaz is mainly based on the industrial sector and agriculture. There are various factories around the city.

Pharmaceutical industry

Pharmaceutical companies such as

Sanofi-Aventis Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

, Deva Holding A.S. and Zentiva have their main manufacturers within the urban area of Lüleburgaz.

Agriculture

Crops widely grown around Lüleburgaz include wheat, corn and sunflowers, with the latter being one of the symbols of the city. Trakya Birlik, with its headquarters in the city, is one of Turkey's main

sunflower oil Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil pressed from the seeds of the sunflower (''Helianthus annuus''). Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient. Sunflower oil is primarily composed ...

producers.

Glass production

Şişecam, Turkey's leading glass producer, has a factory in Lüleburgaz. as does its East Thracian division Trakya Cam.

Sport

Founded in 2007, the women's football club, Düvenciler Lisesispor, played in the

Turkish Women's First Football League The Turkish Women's Football Super League ( tr, Kadınlar Süper Ligi), formerly the First Women's Football League (also known as the ''Turkcell Women's Football Super League'' for sponsorship reasons), is the top level women's football league of ...

after promotion from the Second League. In 2011 the team changed its name to

Lüleburgaz 39 Spor Lüleburgaz 39 Spor is a Turkish women's football club based in Lüleburgaz town and district of Kırklareli Province. It was established in 2007. Currently, the club chairman is Cenk Güngör. The club was founded as a high school girls' team, ...

and its colours from yellow-black to red-green. The club ended its participation in the league in the 2013-14 season.

Culture

The city and the Battle of Lüleburgas feature in

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

's '' Time Regained'', the final chapter of ''

Remembrance of Things Past ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

'', published in 1927. The festival of

koliada Koliada or koleda (Cyrillic: коляда, коледа, колада, коледе) is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, to Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Christian ...

is historically celebrated in the city in the month of January.

Media companies

The city of Lüleburgaz is home to several local media agencies including the centre-left Lüleburgaz Görünüm Gazetesi and Lüleburgaz Haber.

Politics

Lüleburgaz is one of the most pro-European cities of Turkey; mayoral candidates advocating tighter integration with the European Union dominate during elections. Historically, the centre-left, secular and pro-European

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP) has dominated city politics. In the

2017 Turkish constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in Turkey on 16 April 2017 on whether to approve 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution that were brought forward by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement ...

, 72.89% of the population of Lüleburgaz voted "no". In the

2018 Turkish general election General elections were held in Turkey on 24 June 2018. 2018 Turkish presidential election, Presidential elections were held to elect the President of Turkey using a two-round system. 2018 Turkish parliamentary election, Parliamentary elections to ...

the most popular party was the CHP which received 51.38% of the vote. The

liberal democratic Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...

Nation Alliance Nation Alliance may refer to: * Nation Alliance (Egypt), Egyptian electoral alliance * Nation Alliance Party, former Canadian political party * Nation Alliance (Turkey) The Nation Alliance ( tr, Millet İttifakı), or simply Nation ( tr, M ...

received 64.80% of the votes in the city. In the

2019 Turkish local elections The Turkish local elections of 2019 were held on Sunday 31 March 2019 throughout the 81 provinces of Turkey. A total of 30 metropolitan and 1,351 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,251 provincial and 20,500 municipal councillors were elected, ...

the most popular candidate was Murat Gerenli of the CHP which received 66.55% of the vote.

Famous residents

Ahmet Özacar Ahmet Refik Özacar (8 May 1937 – 23 October 2005), known by his given nickname Küçük, literally meaning "''Junior''", was a Turkish international footballer. Özacar was a one-club-man, played his entire career at Beşiktaş J.K. between ...

, Turkish footballer *

Candan Erçetin Candan Erçetin (; born 10 February 1961) is a Turkish people, Turkish singer-songwriter. Over the twenty five years of her singing career, she has been recognized for preparing and singing songs about human life. Despite the fact that she made ...

, Turkish singer-songwriter of Kosovar-Macedonian descent that represented Turkey in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1986 The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcastin ...

, recipient of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

for her contributions to

France–Turkey relations French–Turkish relations (; ) cover a long period from the 16th century to the present, starting with the alliance established between Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent. Relations remained essentially friendly during a period of nearly th ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Lüleburgaz is twinned with: *

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

* Popovo

References

Bibliography

Bergulae

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and the ''Dictionary of Gr ...

Arcadiopolis
founded by

External links

Official Website of the City of Lüleburgaz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luleburgaz Populated places in Kırklareli Province Districts of Kırklareli Province