belde
Belde (literally "town", also known as ''kasaba'') means "large village with a municipality" in Turkish language, Turkish.
All Turkish province centers and district centers have municipalities, but the Villages of Turkey, villages are usually too ...
'') in the
Kırklareli District
Kırklareli District (also: ''Merkez'', meaning "central" in Turkish) is a district of the Kırklareli Province of Turkey. Its seat is the city of Kırklareli.
,
Kırklareli Province
Kırklareli Province () 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 provinc ...
, Turkey. Its population is 2,195 (2022).
Geography
Üsküp is situated to the east of
Kırklareli
Kırklareli () is a city in the East Thrace, European part of Turkey. It is the seat of Kırklareli Province and Kırklareli District.Scythians
The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...
(), but more likely is a Turkish corruption of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
word "Skopos." In 1368, during the reign of
Murat I
Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Murad I came to the ...
the settlement was annexed to
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Turkish traveller
Evliya Çelebi
Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...
in the 17th century describes Üsküp as a relatively populated place famous for wine production. Evliya mentions that the hundreds of Muslims of the neighbouring
Kırklareli
Kırklareli () is a city in the East Thrace, European part of Turkey. It is the seat of Kırklareli Province and Kırklareli District.Vize
Vize (; ; ) is a town in Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Vize District.Bulgarian girls of Üsküp which were renowned for their beauty and had many children. The Bulgarian inhabitants left the settlement in 1913 while the Greek population stayed until the end of the
Turkish War of Independence
, strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...
. According to the
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...
agreement The Greeks were replaced by the
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...
from
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. The same year the settlement was declared a seat of township. Many of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
residents transferred to
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
Serres, Greece
Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki.
Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The cit ...
.
Economy
The town is still known for vineyards and wine production. The best Papaskarasi grapes are produced here. The decomposed granite soils in Üsküp gives different aromas to grapes here. Other crops are vegetables and fruits. There are also some small factories around the town.