Demirköy (, "iron village"; known as Малък Самоков, ''Malak Samokov'' in Bulgarian) is a town in

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 ...

, in the Marmara region of

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 Demirköy District.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 3,489 (2022). The inhabitants are mainly descendants of

Pomak Pomaks (; Macedonian: Помаци ; ) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting Bulgaria, northwestern Turkey, and northeastern Greece. The strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as Bulgarian Muslims by th ...

Muslims from the village of Tisovo and other villages from the Greek side of the Chech region who were settled in Demirköy during 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 ...

in 1923/1924. Prior to that, the village was known as Samokov (). The mayor is Recep Gün, elected in 2019.Recep Gün
''

Sözcü ''Sözcü'' (English: ''Spokesperson'') is a popular Turkish daily newspaper. ''Sözcü'' was first published on 27 June 2007 by Burak Akbay and is distributed nationwide. As of June 2018, it was one of the top-selling newspapers in Turkey, with ...

''. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

Visitor attractions

A historic metalworking facility dating back to the 15th century, the Demirköy Foundry (), currently an archaeological site, is located southeast of Demirköy. The Dupnisa Cave () is a

show cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

located deep in the

Strandzha Strandzha (, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and East Thrace, the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, th ...

forests southwest of the town. The

İğneada Floodplain Forests National Park The İğneada Floodplain Forests National Park (), established on November 13, 2007, is a national park located within Kırklareli Province in Marmara Region at East Thrace, the European part of Turkey. The national park covers an area of and i ...

() is at east of Demirköy near

İğneada İğneada, formerly Thynias (Greek language, Greek: Θυνίας), is a town (''belde'') in the Demirköy District, Kırklareli Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,511 (2022). It lies on the Black Sea coast and is approximately south of the Rez ...

. The Lake Saka Nature Reserve is situated inside the national park.

References

Populated places in Demirköy District Pomak communities in Turkey District municipalities in Turkey {{Kırklareli-geo-stub