Edirne

Edirne (USeɪˈdɪərnə,_ɛˈ-, ediɾˈne), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις, Bulgarian: Одрин), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1369 to 1453, before Constantinople became its capital. The city is a commercial centre for woven textiles, silks, carpets and agricultural products and has a growing tourism industry. It is the seat of Edirne Province and Edirne District. Its population is 180,002 (2022). Edirne has an attractive location on the rivers Meriç and Tunca and has managed to withstand some of the unattractive development that mars the outskirts of many Turkish cities. The town is famous in Turkey for its liver. Ciğer tava (breaded and deep-fried liver) is often served with a side of cacık, a dish of diluted strained yogurt with chopped cucumber. Names of Edirne in different languages The city was founded and named after the Roman emperor Hadrian as Hadrianopolis (Adrianople in English, ˌeɪdriəˈnoʊpəl; Ἁδριανούπολις in Greek) on the site of the Greek city of Orestias, which was itself founded on an earlier Thracian settlement named Uskudama. The Ottoman name Edrine (ادرنه) is derived from the Greek name. The name Adrianople was used in English until the Turkish adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1928, after which Edirne became the internationally recognised name. The city's name in other European languages - Odrin (ˈɔdrin), Edrene, Romanian and Odrina, Edrenë, Odrin, Jedrene and Drinápoly - is adapted from either Hadrianopolis or Edirne. The area around Edirne has been the site of numerous major battles and sieges starting from the days of the Roman Empire. The vagaries of the border region between Asia and Europe gave rise to Edirne's claim to be the most frequently contested spot on earth. The city was reestablished by the Roman Emperor Hadrian on the site of Orestias (named after its mythological founder Orestes), which was itself built on a previous Thracian settlement known as Uskadama, Uskudama, Uskodama or Uscudama.