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Marmara Ereğlisi (; ), also spelled Marmaraereğlisi, is a municipality and
district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
Tekirdağ Province Tekirdağ Province (, ) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 6,190 km2, and its population is 1,142,451 (2022). It is located in the East Thrace region of the country, also known as European Turkey, one of only t ...
,
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 area is 175 km2, and its population is 29,549 (2022).


Facts

Ereğli is 30 km east of the town of
Tekirdağ Tekirdağ () is a city in northwestern Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. The city forms the urban part of the Süleymanpaşa district, with a population of 186,421 in 2022. Tekirdağ ...
, and 90 km west of
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
near a small pointed headland on the north shore of the Marmara Sea. It is called Marmara Ereğlisi (or ''Marmara Ereğli'' in colloquial usage) to distinguish it from the two other large towns in Turkey with the name Ereğli (deriving from 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 ...
name '' Heraclea''), one in
Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...
( Konya Ereğlisi), the other 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 (
Karadeniz Ereğli Karadeniz Ereğli (or Ereğli) is a city in Zonguldak Province of Turkey on the Black Sea shore. It is the seat of Ereğli District.
).


History

The town, originally a
Samian colony, was founded as Perinthos (), in English usually known by its Latinized form as Perinthus. In about 300 AD, it was given the name of Heraclea (Ἡράκλεια). It was built amphitheatre-like on the hillside of a cape extending into the
Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
, close to where the modern town stands. Its port and its position at the junction of several sea-routes, made it a town of commercial importance. It became famous because of its resistance to
Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
in 340 BC. Many of its coins have survived, and identify the festivals held there. At an early date, according to tradition in the Apostolic Age, Heraclea became a Christian
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. As capital of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of Europa, it was the
metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...
for all the bishoprics of the province, including
Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...
, which in 330 became
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. Later on,
Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
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 ...
would restore its aqueducts and palace. The see of Constantinople soon obtained superiority over Heraclea. However, Heraclea was recognized in the ''
Notitia Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...
'' of Pseudo-Epiphanius as having five
suffragan see A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, ...
s: Panium, Callipolis, Chersonesus in Europa, Coela, and Rhaedestus. An early 10th-century ''Notitia Episcopatuum'' attributed to
Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...
lists the suffragans as 15 and another, dating from 1022–1025, puts them at 17. With the advance of the Ottoman conquests, the number of suffragans was severely reduced. In the early 20th century, it still had two suffragans. Today it is only a titular "Elder Metropolis and Exarchate of Thrace" of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...
. In the 13th century, there were
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
diocesan bishops of Heraclea. Today, the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
lists it as a
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 ...
under the name "Heraclea in Europa".


Eski Ereğli

In his 1815 account of his visit to the area, Edward Daniel Clarke stated that, in spite of its name, which means 'Old Ereğli or Heraclea', the village of ''Eski Ereğli'' (today Gümüşyaka in
Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek language, Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 217,163 (2022). It lies along the Sea of Marmara, outsi ...
district), where he hoped to find antiquities, had scarcely any ancient remains, and he was informed that it was the coastal village known locally as ''Büyük Ereğli'' (Big Ereğli or Big Heraclea), about two hours (six miles) distant, that corresponded to the ancient city of Heraclea. Eski Ereğli corresponds instead to the ancient town and bishopric of Daunium. This appears as a bishopric for the first time in the early 10th century in the above-mentioned list of Leo VI the Wise. Its bishop Thomas took part in the
Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...
in 787 and Clemens in the Photian
Council of Constantinople (879) The Fourth Council of Constantinople was held in 879–880. It confirmed the reinstatement of Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople. The result of this council is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox as having the authority of an ecumenical c ...
. Like Heraclea, it had a Latin bishop in the time of the
Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...
of Constantinople (1204–1261). No longer a residential bishopric, Daonium is today listed by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
as a
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 ...
.


Composition

There are 10
neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...
in Marmara Ereğlisi District: * Bahçelievler * Ceditalipaşa * Çeşmeli * Dereağzı * Kamaredere * Mustafa Kemal Paşa * Sultanköy * Türkmenli * Yakuplu *
Yeniçiftlik Yeniçiftlik (literally "new farm") is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Marmara Ereğlisi, Tekirdağ Province, Turkey. Its population is 11,777 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It is situated ...


Holiday resorts

Ereğli is a small town, quiet in winter. There is a long coastline and the sea is clean enough for swimming, (not true of much of the Marmara) and the coast on either side of Ereğli is lined with hotels and compounds of holiday properties serving people from Istanbul, who come to relax in the summer sunshine. Ereğli is only an hour's drive from Istanbul and on a summer Sunday evening the road is a solid queue of returning weekenders. The holiday compounds are complicated mazes of little roads tightly packed with villas or buildings of holiday flats, leading down to the sea. Some of them have cafes and restaurants on the seafront, sometimes open to people from outside the compound. In places there are public beaches, although very crowded on summer weekends, and paths for children to play on bicycles. These holiday homes are family places and not all the compounds have nightlife.


The town and villages

The town of Ereğli and its nearby villages are used by these weekenders and summer residents for fast food, grocery shopping, internet cafes and other amenities. The town itself is a mixture of large modern blocks and old country houses, both types mostly having been built without proper planning or architectural design. There is a small harbour. The people of Ereğli are a mixture of established families who have been in Thrace for generations and recently arrived migrant workers.


Earthquakes

A large fault follows this coast, and the holiday housing of Ereğli is all vulnerable to damage from the inevitable earthquakes.


Economy

Apart from tourism Ereğli has two natural harbors and three small ports. The natural gas company Botaş and also Total Petroleum have tanker ports. Large quantities of petroleum products are imported from Russia. There is a LNG storage facility and a natural gas-fired power plant on the point of the headland, in the village of Sultanköy.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marmara Ereglisi Districts of Tekirdağ Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Populated places in Tekirdağ Province Port cities of the Sea of Marmara Fishing communities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey