Silivri
Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The largest settlement in the district is also named Silivri.
Silivri is located bordering Büyükçekmece to the east, Çatalca to the north, Çorlu and Marmara Ereğli (both districts of Tekirdağ Province) to the west, Çerkezköy to the north-west (one of Tekirdağ Province) and with the Sea of Marmara to the south. It is, with an area of 760 km2, the second largest district of Istanbul Province after Çatalca. The seat of the district is the city of Silivri.
The district consists of 8 towns and 18 villages. It has a population of 155,923 (2013 census) with 75,702 in the city of Silivri and the remaining in the surrounding towns and villages – listed below.
Established in 2008, Turkey's most modern (and Europe's largest) prison complex is located 9 km west of Silivri.
Silivri, the ancient Greek Selymbria or Selybria (Σηλυ(μ)βρία), owed its historical importance to the natural harbor and its position on the major commercial roads. It was a colony of Megara founded on a steep 56 m high hill east of the bay, but excavations show that it was a Thracian settlement before it was a Greek colony.
According to Strabo, the city's name is a combination of the name of the mythological founder of the city, Selus, and the Thracian word that Strabo thought was used for polis, "bria". This, however, did not mean polis, and had another meaning.
Selymbria is the birthplace of the physician Herodicus, and was an ally of the Athenians in 351 BC. Until the second half of the 2nd century BC, the city could preserve its autonomy, but after its neighbours Byzantium and Perinthos became more powerful, the city fell under their control during the next centuries. The settlement shrank into a village under the governance of the Roman Empire. In the early 5th century, the town was officially renamed Eudoxiopolis (Εὐδοξιόπολις) in Greek, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Arcadius (377–408), after his wife Aelia Eudoxia, though this name did not survive. In 805 AD, the Bulgarian Khan Kroum pillaged the town. In the late 9th century, Emperor Michael III constructed a fortress on the top of the hill, the ruins of which still remain, during an era in which the Byzantine Empire suffered attacks by Saracen corsairs and Russians. With the Fourth Crusade, and the fall of Constantinople to the Latin Empire in 1204, the fortress fell in quick succession to the Latin Empire, Bulgarian, back to the Latins and finally was recaptured by the Byzantine successor state of the Empire of Nicaea in 1247, who were finally able to recapture Constantinople and restore the empire in 1261.
In 1346, the Ottomans became an ally of the pretender for the Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus (1292–1383), and helped him against his rival John V Palaeologus (1332–1391). The same year, Sultan Orhan I married Theodora, the daughter of John VI in Selymbria.
In 1399, Selymbria fell to the Ottomans, marking their complete encirclement of Constantinople by land in Europe. Many contemporary observers believed from then on it was a mere matter of time before the Ottomans took the Byzantine capital. However, after their disastrous defeat at the hands of Timur the Ottomans returned Selymbria and several other possessions to the Byzantines in 1403. It was sometimes attacked by the Ottomans in later years, but was not captured.
During the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Selymbria, along with Epibatos, stood up against the Ottoman armies, and surrendered only after the city had fallen. Selymbria extended out of the walls only during the Ottoman era because the non-Muslim residents like Greeks, Armenians and Jews lived within the city walls, and the Turks built their houses outside the walls at the coast. While the non-Muslims were engaged mostly in growing grapes, vinification and silk production, the Turks earned their life by fishing and making yogurt. The town remained a summer resort during the Ottoman time, as it was during the Byzantine era.
Silivri is located bordering Büyükçekmece to the east, Çatalca to the north, Çorlu and Marmara Ereğli (both districts of Tekirdağ Province) to the west, Çerkezköy to the north-west (one of Tekirdağ Province) and with the Sea of Marmara to the south. It is, with an area of 760 km2, the second largest district of Istanbul Province after Çatalca. The seat of the district is the city of Silivri.
The district consists of 8 towns and 18 villages. It has a population of 155,923 (2013 census) with 75,702 in the city of Silivri and the remaining in the surrounding towns and villages – listed below.
Established in 2008, Turkey's most modern (and Europe's largest) prison complex is located 9 km west of Silivri.
Silivri, the ancient Greek Selymbria or Selybria (Σηλυ(μ)βρία), owed its historical importance to the natural harbor and its position on the major commercial roads. It was a colony of Megara founded on a steep 56 m high hill east of the bay, but excavations show that it was a Thracian settlement before it was a Greek colony.
According to Strabo, the city's name is a combination of the name of the mythological founder of the city, Selus, and the Thracian word that Strabo thought was used for polis, "bria". This, however, did not mean polis, and had another meaning.
Selymbria is the birthplace of the physician Herodicus, and was an ally of the Athenians in 351 BC. Until the second half of the 2nd century BC, the city could preserve its autonomy, but after its neighbours Byzantium and Perinthos became more powerful, the city fell under their control during the next centuries. The settlement shrank into a village under the governance of the Roman Empire. In the early 5th century, the town was officially renamed Eudoxiopolis (Εὐδοξιόπολις) in Greek, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Arcadius (377–408), after his wife Aelia Eudoxia, though this name did not survive. In 805 AD, the Bulgarian Khan Kroum pillaged the town. In the late 9th century, Emperor Michael III constructed a fortress on the top of the hill, the ruins of which still remain, during an era in which the Byzantine Empire suffered attacks by Saracen corsairs and Russians. With the Fourth Crusade, and the fall of Constantinople to the Latin Empire in 1204, the fortress fell in quick succession to the Latin Empire, Bulgarian, back to the Latins and finally was recaptured by the Byzantine successor state of the Empire of Nicaea in 1247, who were finally able to recapture Constantinople and restore the empire in 1261.
In 1346, the Ottomans became an ally of the pretender for the Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus (1292–1383), and helped him against his rival John V Palaeologus (1332–1391). The same year, Sultan Orhan I married Theodora, the daughter of John VI in Selymbria.
In 1399, Selymbria fell to the Ottomans, marking their complete encirclement of Constantinople by land in Europe. Many contemporary observers believed from then on it was a mere matter of time before the Ottomans took the Byzantine capital. However, after their disastrous defeat at the hands of Timur the Ottomans returned Selymbria and several other possessions to the Byzantines in 1403. It was sometimes attacked by the Ottomans in later years, but was not captured.
During the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Selymbria, along with Epibatos, stood up against the Ottoman armies, and surrendered only after the city had fallen. Selymbria extended out of the walls only during the Ottoman era because the non-Muslim residents like Greeks, Armenians and Jews lived within the city walls, and the Turks built their houses outside the walls at the coast. While the non-Muslims were engaged mostly in growing grapes, vinification and silk production, the Turks earned their life by fishing and making yogurt. The town remained a summer resort during the Ottoman time, as it was during the Byzantine era.
Map - Silivri
Map
Country - Turkey
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| Flag of Turkey | |
One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, Persians and others. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions in modern Turkey were culturally Hellenised, which continued during the Byzantine era. The Seljuk Turks began migrating in the 11th century, and the Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities. Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, and the Turkification of Anatolia increased during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. From the late 18th century onwards, the empire's power declined with a gradual loss of territories. Mahmud II started a period of modernisation in the early 19th century. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restricted the authority of the Sultan and restored the Ottoman Parliament after a 30-year suspension, ushering the empire into a multi-party period. The 1913 coup d'état put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, who facilitated the Empire's entry into World War I as part of the Central Powers in 1914. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek and Assyrian subjects. After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRY | Turkish lira | ₺ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AV | Avar language |
| AZ | Azerbaijani language |
| KU | Kurdish language |
| TR | Turkish language |