Bozcaada is a municipality in

Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province () is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Its area is 9,817 km2, and its population is 559,383 (2022). Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is the seat of and coterminous with the Bozcaada District,İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. which covers the North Aegean island of Bozcaada and a number of islets around it. Its area is 37 km², and its population is 3,120 (2022). Its mayor is Hakan Can Yılmaz ( CHP), and its ''

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

'' (district governor) is Muhammet Mustafa Kara.

Geography

Bozcaada district covers the Bozcaada island and a total of 17 islets around the main island in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

. The total area of the district (including the islets) is . The highest point of the district is Göztepe with an altitude of . The district center is situated on the east side of the island at about . It is situated 22 km. (12 Nautical miles) south of Dardanelles Strait (Çanakkale Boğazı) Its distance to Geyikli the nearest sea port on the main land (

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

) is 7.5 km ( 4.5 nautical miles). The distance from Geyikli to

Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.metropolitan municipalities established after the 1980s there are now some other districts with no rural population.)

Climate

Bozcaada has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csa'') with warm, dry summers, nevertheless with high humidity; and mild, rainy winters.

Population

History

In the antiquity the island was known as ''Leukophrys'' and in Greek mythology it was ''Tenedos''. It was mentioned in

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

. In the medieval age it was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

possession. Towards the end of the medieval age it was left to

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

by the emperor

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. His long reign was marked by constant civil war, the spread of the Black Death and several military defea ...

as a ransom. In 1381 however, following Venetian Genoese War it was evacuated by the Venetians according to the Peace of Turin. In 1455 it was annexed by the

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 ...

during the reign of

Mehmet II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

. Although the Venetians tried to regain the island, in 1464 the Ottoman control was secured by Mahmut Pasha. As a result of the former evacuation, the island was uninhabited during the early years of Ottoman administration and the Ottoman Empire populated the present Bozcaada district by using tax exemption. Ottoman Empire also restored the castle which was demolished during the Venetian-Genoese war. Turks called the island Bozcaada meaning grayish island and the famous cartographer

Piri Reis Muhiddin Piri ( 1470 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis (), was an Ottoman cartographer, admiral, navigator, corsair, and geographer. He is primarily known today for his cartographic works, including his 1513 world map and the '' Kitab-ı ...

of the 16th century also used this name in his maps. In 1923 when the Turkish Republic was proclaimed, the island was declared a district and the only settlement in Bozcaada became the municipality and district center of Çanakkale Province.

Economy

The major economic activities of Bozcaada are tourism, wineries, and fishing, with tourism as the dominant economic sector. More than 1.5 million tourists visited Bozccaada in 2018, driven in part by an increased presence in the global media.

Places of interest

According to municipality of Bozcaada the historically important buildings are the followingMayor's page
* Bozcaada Castle which was reconstructed by the Ottoman sultan Mehmet II in the 15th century, and repaired by the Ottoman sultan Mahmut II in 1815 is the most important touristic attraction of Bozcaada. It is in the district center facing east. Thus visitors to Bozcaada can observe the castle during their voyage. *Another castle is a casemate which is popularly called Yenikale ("new castle"). Despite its name it is in ruins. It was constructed in 1827 by Hafız Ali Pasha, the governor of Bozcaada. It is situated on a hill to the west of Bozacaada district center *Alaybey mosque was probably built in 1700 by Ahmet Ağa, the governor of Bozcaada. It is partially in ruins. *Yalı camii is a mosque which was built on the foundations of a medieval Venetian building in 1655. It was commissioned by Köprülü Mehmet Pasha (future grand vizier) in 1655. It is now under restoration. *Namazgah fountain (with cistern) was built in 1703. *Kimisis Teodoku (St Mary) church was built in 1869. *The monastery of Aya Paraskevi

Sister cities

Valu lui Traian, Romania * Flag of Austria

Gols, Austria

References

External links

For images

For Touristic Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bozcaada, Canakkale Bozcaada district Districts of Çanakkale Province Tenedos Aegean Sea District municipalities in Turkey