Edirne: Turkey

Edirne is a city in (Thrace), the westernmost part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Variations on the name of the city, founded as Hadrianopolis, include Adrianople, Edreneh, and Odrin. Conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1362, the city served as the Ottoman capital from 1365 until 1453. Edirne is the capital of Edirne Province and its estimated population in 2002 was 128,400.

The Selimiye Mosque, built by Sultan Selim II in 1575 and designed by Ottoman master architect Sinan, has the highest minarets in Turkey, at 70.9 meters.

The area around Edirne is also the site of no fewer than 15 major battles or seiges, from the ancient Greeks to the Romans modern day Turks, the last such encounter happening during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.