Kumkale is a village in 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 ...

. Its population is 1,016 (2021). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''

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 ...

'').

Geography

Kumkale is located within the National Park of Troy. (

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

is an ancient city included in the World Heritage Sites in Turkey.) Its distance to Çanakkale is .

History

According to some historians this village might be the starting place of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

's campaign in

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 ...

against the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

in the 4th century BC. Kumkale was a prosperous village before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. But during the early phases of the Gallipoli Campaign, the village was evacuated because of French troops landing on the beach of the village. (See Battle of Kumkale.) After the war the village was not repopulated. However in 1928 some people began to settle in a location slightly to the east of the former village. The former name of this new village was Mısırlık, But then the name Kumkale came into use. When the Turkish minority in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

was expelled from Bulgaria a number of families were settled in Kumkale and the town was declared the seat of its township in 1992. However during the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation its stature was changed to that of a village.

Economy

The major economic activity of the settlement is agriculture. Tomatoes are the most important product. Cotton and sunflowers are also produced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumkale, Canakkale Villages in Çanakkale District