Kıyıköy, historically Medea (; ; ), is 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 ...

'') in the Vize District,

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 2,160 (2022). It is on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast, from Vize and away from Kırklareli. It became a municipality in 1987.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and tourism are the main local sources of income. The town has a small beach while the surrounding area is covered by dense forest mainly of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

. Two streams, the Kazandere and the Pabuçdere, surround the town in the south and north respectively and flowi into the Black Sea. The Kasatura Bay Nature Reserve Area is south of the town along the Black Sea and offers a pristine forest and beach. The only naturally growing grove of black pine (''

Pinus nigra ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica ...

'') in Turkish

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

is found here. The town hosts the onshore terminal of the Turkstream pipeline from Russia.

History

Kıyıköy is identified with Salmydessus, where according to

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

rescued

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; ), was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer, who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in PaphlagoniaScholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178, 237; Scholia ''ad eund'' 2.1 ...

from the

Harpies In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; ) is a half-human and half-bird mythical creature, often believed to be a personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions Harpies were generally depicted ...

. Later it became Medea/Midye, a name which means merely 'Middle' in Greek. It was occupied by Imperial Russian troops after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, and later by Bulgarians and

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 ...

s following the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

of 1912-1913. According to the Treaty of London, the border of 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 ...

passed through the town for a brief period after the First Balkan War; the border was known as the "Midye-

Enez Enez is a town in Edirne Province, in East Thrace, Turkey. The ancient name of the town was Ainos (), Latinised as Aenus. It is the seat of Enez District.

Line" () or the Enos-Midia line since the town's name was still Midye at the time. The border was moved further west after the Ottomans regained some territory after the Second Balkan War. According to the terms of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey that took place in 1923, the mostly

and Bulgarian Christian residents of the town were replaced by Turks from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

in Greece because of their wide knowledge of maritime matters. In 1960, the settlement's name was changed from Midye to Kıyıkent because the former was regarded as a foreign-language name.''Medea'' remains a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 archbi ...

Turkstream pipeline

In 2020 the Turkstream ( Turkish: ''TürkAkım;'' Russian: Турецкий поток), a double gas pipeline from Anapa near Krasnodar in Russia, linked up with Kıyıköy and went into service. One pipeline continues to Lüleburgaz and supplies Turkey. The second is intended for other countries although its onward route is yet to be determined. It cost €11.4 billion.

Places of interest

St. Nicholas' Monastery () () is a rock-cut

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 ...

era Orthodox

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, built during the time of Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(reigned 527-565). It is situated about southwest of the town. The monastery consists of a ground-floor chapel with cells for the monks and storerooms. The basement contains a holy well (hagiasma) () (). The monastery was renovated in 1856 by

Metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

Matthaios, who also built a wooden annex in front of it (it no longer exists). An inscription reading "St. Nikolas" in Greek lettering is engraved over the arched north entrance. Kıyıköy Fortress () is a

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

, also built during the reign of Justinian Il, that surrounds most of the old town. Examination of the mortar used suggests that it was renovated in the 9th and 10th centuries. The fortress is constructed on a hillside stretching to the coast between Pabuçdere in the north and Kazandere in the south. Its eastern part is completely ruined. The walls were built with cut stone and

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

and are, in some places, thick and high. The walls around the second gate reach a height of . They probably rose to near the (lost) second

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

. A wide defensive

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

stretched between the third and the sixth watchtower. A hidden gate to the south of the southern walls was connected to the fortress by 180 steps. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism restored the Vize Gate using stone, bricks and wood in 1991.

References

External links

Official website of the municipality of Kıyıköy

Miscellaneous images of Kırklareli - Kıyıköy

History, Beaches, Regional Geography for Kıyıköy

Nature and sea photos, Human and house pictures for Kıyıköy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiyikoy Populated places in Vize District

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

Fishing communities in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Tourist attractions in Kırklareli Province Seaside resorts in Turkey Town municipalities in Turkey