Şarköy

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A view of Şarköy from the heights.
A view of Şarköy from the heights.

Şarköy is a seaside district of Tekirdağ Province situated on the north coast of the Marmara Sea in Thrace in Turkey. Şarköy is 86km east of the town of Tekirdağ, and can be reached either by the inland road or by the winding coast road, which goes on to Gallipoli.

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[edit] History

Stone-age weapons and implements have been found in the villages of Kızılcaterzi, Fener Karadutlar and Sofuköy. Bronze Age artefacts from 1200BC have been found in İğdebağları (Araplı), showing that mining took place here and also that there were trading links between Thrace and the Aegean coast.

Greek colonies were founded from 750 to 550 BC with the agreement of the local Thracians. The Greek villages of Heraklea (Eriklice), Hora (Hoşköy), Ganos (Ganoz), Bizatnhe-Panion (Barbaros) later fell in to the hands of the Romans. Then under Byzantine rule Thrace was subject wave on wave of invaders coming via the Balkans; Huns, Slavs, Bulgars, the Crusades. By this time the area was known as Tristatis and also Agora.

Following the Ottoman takeover in 1362 the name became 'Şehirköy' ('city-village') and later mutated to 'Şarköy'. The area was first conquered in 1356 by Süleyman Paşa, son of Orhangazi, the son of the founder of the Ottoman dynasty. It changed a few times before coming permanently under Ottoman control in 1362.

In the Ottoman period this coastline thrived growing produce to ship to Istanbul, wine-making, and also making bricks and roof-tiles which were exported further afield.

A major fault-lines runs just off this coast and in 1912 Şarköy and nearby Mürefte were badly damaged by an earthquake, bringing down practically every house (850 in Mürefte, 1085 in Şarköy). She was a township (bucak) in Gelibolu sanjak and belonged to Kaptanpaşa vilayet at first. Gelibolu sanjak bounded to Edirne vilayet in 1864. Majority of the townships was Greek. Turk and Armenian people also lived in her before 1920.

The coast was occupied briefly by Bulgarian forces in December 22, 1912 during the Balkan Wars, and again in 1920-22 by Greek forces during the Turkish War of Independence, this time with the support of the local Greek and Armenian people. She was a district in Gelibolu province between 1922-1926 before bounding to Tekirdağ province.

[edit] The area today

Şarköy and Mürefte are small country towns providing the surrounding villages with amenities such as medical care and high schools. 90% of the land is cultivated, vineyards and olive groves near the coast, with sunflowers, wheat, barley and tobacco inland.

Şarköy has the longest beach in Turkey, the 12th longest in the world, which was dirty but has been cleaned up now and in 2006 was awarded a blue flag. The district includes 60 km of coastline for tourism, fishing and prawn fishing. And it is possible to take a motorboat from here to Avşa or Marmara Island. With all this to offer Şarköy is naturally popular with holidaymakers from Istanbul. There are hotels and guest houses in the town of Şarköy, but not enough to fill the demand in summertime. There are also compounds of holiday flats for summer residents. The town has a little jetty and pretty narrow lanes, The night-life and cuisine of the towns are not top-class, Şarköy attracts Istanbul's lower-middle class coming on family holidays, but there are bars and discos playing a variety of different musics, and places among the rocks for the young or young at heart to creep off and drink beer. The actor and dancer Yaşar Alptekin has a club here. And as this area thrives on wine-making and tourism people are pretty cool about life. The young generation tend to migrate to Istanbul for study and careers. Uçmakdere village has a parasailing possibility between end of May and beginning of September.

The land behind the coast has the right micro-climate for vineyards and wine-making; Şarköy is known for its wine and holds a wine festival each autumn. Güler Sabancı has a winery here making a Cabernet Sauvignon called Gulor. And the olives are very good too.

There is also an institute of the University of Thrace here.

[edit] Places of interest

  • Great Mosque of Gazi Süleyman Pasha
  • Uçmakdere - (formerly 'Vidimo') 36km from Şarköy, on a winding road along the cliffs from Tekirdağ. Uçmakdere is a lovely seaside village on a rocky coast with pretty wine-growing countryside behind. A wine making centre since the Byzantine period, Greek-built wineries still active today. Ruins of a Byzantine monastery, once silk was made here too. Partridge shooting on the steep hillside behind the village, and also great views.
  • Gaziköy - 25km from Şarköy, 2700 years of history including; fossils, ruined Byzantine houses and churches, the castle named 'Ganos'
  • Hoşköy - (formerly 'Hora') 16km from Şarköy, another village with vineyards ('Melen' and others) and a long history
  • Eriklice - an old-established seaside fishing village with vineyards and olive groves
  • Mürefte - (formerly 'Mryofto') - 13km from Şarköy, an ancient tree-lined village on a lovely coastline, with views of Marmara Island across the sea. Wine-making and olive-growing. There are guest houses and restaurants for those looking for a weekend escape from Istanbul. Wine-making is a large-scale modern industry here now, well=known grape varieties such as semillon and gamay are grown alongside the traditional local varieties for use in wineries including Kutman.

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