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 620 km2, and its population is 50,766 (2022). Its elevation is . The district has cold wet winters and hot dry summers. The district governor (
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 ...
) is Regaip Ahmet Özyiğit, and the mayor is Abdül Taşyasan ( CHP).
Saray is situated on the junction of state roads D.020 and D.567. It is neighboured in the north by
Vize
Vize (; ; ) is a town in Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Vize District.Çatalca
Çatalca () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 1142 km2, making it the largest district in Istanbul Province by area. Its population is 77,468 (2022). It is in Eas ...
, in the south by
Kapaklı
Kapaklı () is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, Turkey. Its area is 182 km2, and its population is 137,514 (2022). The district and municipality Kapaklı was created at the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation from p ...
and in the west by
Ergene
Ergene (; ; ''Eryinis'', , ''Agriánēs'') is a major left tributary of the Maritsa (Meriç) river, flowing entirely in the East Thrace region of Turkey.
The river rises from the southern part of Strandzha mountain, not far from the Black Sea and ...
.
History
Thrace has been settled for a long, long time and relics have been found in Saray from the stone-age and the copper-stone periods (5000 to 3000 BC), but up until the Ottoman period there were only small villages here. Then when the Ottomans established their capital in nearby
Edirne
Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
, the town began to grow.
In the 18th century when the
Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...
fell to the Russians, the Giray family of the ruling Khans, descendants of
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
himself, were settled here by the Ottoman sultans. Many members of the dynasty are buried at the yard of Ayas Pasha Mosque in Saray. It was successively part of sanjaks of
Vize
Vize (; ; ) is a town in Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Vize District.Tekfurdağı and Kırkkilise and was a
nahiyah
A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
(subdivision) of Vize township in Kırkkilise sanjak before 1922.
Saray was occupied by Greek troops for two years during the
Turkish War of Independence
, strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...
between 1920 and 1922. Saray became a district in 1922 and bounded to Tekirdağ.
Geography
Saray is north of the province seat
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 ...
. The land is mostly flat and watered by the River
Ergene
Ergene (; ; ''Eryinis'', , ''Agriánēs'') is a major left tributary of the Maritsa (Meriç) river, flowing entirely in the East Thrace region of Turkey.
The river rises from the southern part of Strandzha mountain, not far from the Black Sea and ...
. At the top north-east corner the land begins to rise to 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 ...
(''Yıldız Dağları'') range of hills. 50% of the land is farmed, 50% forest and meadow, including the only stands of Austrian 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 Thrace, a protected area.
Composition
There are 29
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 Saray District:Mahalle Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
* Atatürk
* Ayaspaşa
* Ayvacık
* Aziziye
* Bahçedere
* Bahçeköy
* Beyazköy
* Bozoba
*
Büyükyoncalı
Büyükyoncalı Merkez is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Saray, Tekirdağ Province, Turkey. Its population is 1,988 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, Büyükyoncalı was a town (''belde''). It is situated in the plains ...
Merkez
* Çayla Köy
* Çukuryurt
* Cumhuriyet
* Demirler
* Edirköy
* Göçerler
* Güngörmez
* Kadıköy
* Karabürçek
* Kavacık
* Kemalpaşa
* Küçükyoncalı
* Kurtdere
* Osmanlı
* Pazarcık
* Safaalan
* Sinanlı
* Sofular
* Yeni
* Yuvalı
Saray today
Unlike its neighbours
Kapaklı
Kapaklı () is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, Turkey. Its area is 182 km2, and its population is 137,514 (2022). The district and municipality Kapaklı was created at the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation from p ...
and
Ergene
Ergene (; ; ''Eryinis'', , ''Agriánēs'') is a major left tributary of the Maritsa (Meriç) river, flowing entirely in the East Thrace region of Turkey.
The river rises from the southern part of Strandzha mountain, not far from the Black Sea and ...
, Saray has not industrialised and remains a small town with high schools and other infrastructure, even some nightlife, serving the surrounding countryside. Market day is Wednesdays, and as well as fruit and vegetables, wines from Thrace and from Bulgaria can be found. However, Çorlu and Çerkezköy are only 30 minutes away, and as Saray is a much more green and pleasant environment, some people do commute to work in those industrial areas. The people are liberal and Saray is a stronghold of the centre-left CHP.
There is a military garrison here, and a prison.
Notable natives
The professional football player
Fatih Akyel
Fatih Akyel (born 26 December 1977) is a Turkish football manager and former professional player. He played as a defender for clubs such as Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe during his 15-year career. He was capped by the Turkey national team 64 t ...
(former Galatasaray player) was from Saray. He left playing football.
Places of interest
*The caves of Güneşkaya and Güngörmez - where stone age relics have been uncovered.
*Byzantine waterworks - the remains of a system of aqueducts built to take water from the River Ergene all the way to Istanbul.
*Ayas Pasha Mosque and Hammam- mosque and Turkish bath built in 1539.
*The countryside, especially the hills to the north, leading up to the Black Sea coast are popular places for trekking at weekends.
*Çamlıkoy, formerly known as Kastro, is a small village on the Black Sea coast, popular for walking and picnics. There is a forested area of national park here too. There are a small number of holiday homes.