Marmara Ereğlisi
| Marmara Ereğlisi | |
|---|---|
  Marmara Ereğlisi | |
| Coordinates: 40°58′11″N 27°57′19″E / 40.96972°N 27.95528°ECoordinates: 40°58′11″N 27°57′19″E / 40.96972°N 27.95528°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Tekirdağ |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | İbrahim Uyan (CHP) |
| Area[1] | |
| • District | 196.85 km2 (76.00 sq mi) |
| Population (2012)[2] | |
| • Urban | 10,325 |
| • District | 21,469 |
| • District Density | 110/km2 (280/sq mi) |
| Website | www.marmaraereglisi.bel.tr/ |
Marmara Ereğlisi (Ηράκλεια in Greek) is a town and district of Tekirdağ Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Uyan (CHP).
Facts
Ereğli is 30 km east of the town of Tekirdağ, and 90 km west of Istanbul 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 name Heraclea), one in Konya Province (Konya Ereğlisi), the other on the Black Sea coast (Karadeniz Ereğli).
History
The area was known in Ancient Greek as Perinthos (Πέρινθος) later called Heraclea (Ἡράκλεια). It is said to have been a Samian colony, founded about 599 BC. According to John Tzetzes, its original name was Mygdonia; later it was called Heraclea (Heraclea Thraciae, Heraclea Perinthus). It is famous chiefly for its stubborn and successful resistance to Philip II of Macedon in 340 BC; at that time it seems to have been more important than Byzantium itself.
Christian virgin Saint Glyceria suffered her martyrdom at Heraclea (modern Marmara Ereğli) in the year 177.
Heraclea was nominally the metropolitan see for Constantinople, and its incumbent still enjoys together with senior titular sees such as Ephesus, Nicaea, Nicomedia the formal title of 'geron'.
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), 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.[3]
The Catholic Church's titular see of Heraclea in Europa is identified with Ereğli,[4] and that of Daonium with Eski Ereğli.[5]
Holiday resorts
Ereğli is a small town with little to offer, and especially quiet in winter. However 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 cowded 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 faultline 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 harbours and three small ports. The natural gas company Botaş and also Total Petroleum have tanker ports and storage tanks on the point of the headland, in the village of Sultanköy.
References
- ↑ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
- ↑ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
- ↑ Edward Daniel Clarke, Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa, 3. ed, (T. Cadell, 1816), Volumes 2-3, pp. 471-474
- ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", p. 889
- ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013, p. 879
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press