Edirne
Ottoman capital from 1363-1453 before Constantinople fell, Edirne sits at Europe's narrowest point—just 7km from Greece, 20km from Bulgaria. Today 73% work in agriculture (sunflowers, rice, the famous white cheese) while cross-border trade and university education diversify an economy shaped by 1,900 years as the gateway between continents.
Edirne was the Ottoman Empire's capital for ninety years before Constantinople fell. Between 1363 and 1453, sultans ruled from this city at the confluence of the Tunca and Maritsa rivers—the gateway where Europe narrows to a corridor barely 200 kilometers wide between the Black Sea and Aegean. When the Ottomans finally took Constantinople, Edirne remained the empire's European anchor. When the empire collapsed, this strategic value became vulnerability.
The city the Romans called Hadrianopolis (after Emperor Hadrian rebuilt it around 125 CE) changed hands repeatedly in the 20th century. Greece took it via the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920; Turkey recaptured it after defeating Greece in 1922. Today Edirne is Turkey's only province bordering Greece—just 7 km separate the cities. The Bulgarian border lies 20 km north. This geography makes Edirne a perpetual transit zone: for trade, for migrants, for armies.
The modern economy reflects centuries as a crossroads. Agriculture dominates—73% of workers till productive lowlands growing sunflowers, corn, rice, and sugar beets. The famous Edirne white cheese (beyaz peynir) anchors a dairy sector. Textiles, leather goods, and carpets flow through markets that have operated since Ottoman times. Thrace University anchors an education sector, while cross-border trade with Bulgaria and Greece generates commercial activity impossible for inland provinces.
In March 2024, lawyer Filiz Gencan Akin won election as mayor, ending Recep Gürkan's decade-long tenure. She inherits a province whose function hasn't changed in 1,900 years: connecting Europe to Asia Minor, processing agricultural bounty, and serving as the first Turkish territory that travelers from the west encounter.
By 2026, Edirne will likely continue its role as Turkey's European threshold—benefiting from EU trade relationships while absorbing migration pressures that make the Greek border contentious. The city that served as capital before Istanbul exists now as the entrance exam to everything beyond.