Enez | |
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  Enez Location in Turkey Show map of Turkey Enez Enez (Marmara) Show map of Marmara | |
| Coordinates:40°43′20″N26°05′00″E / 40.72222°N 26.08333°E /40.72222; 26.08333 | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Edirne |
| District | Enez |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Özkan Günenç (CHP) |
| Population (2022)[1] | 4,301 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Area code | 0284 |
| Website | www |
Enez is a town inEdirne Province, inEast Thrace,Turkey. The ancient name of the town wasAinos (Greek:Αίνος),Latinised asAenus. It is the seat ofEnez District.[2] Its population is 4,301 (2022).[1] The mayor is Özkan Günenç (CHP).
Enez consists of an old town centre, backing on to the Meriç/Evros river forming the border with neighbouringGreece; the harbour and Pırlanta Beach, 3 km southwest across the lagoon; and Altınkum Sahili (Golden Sands Beach), another 2 km south, which has been developed as a resort strip mainly catering for domestic tourists.
Despite Enez's proximity to the Greek border there is no crossing point by land here. To cross the border into Greece it is necessary to travel north toİpsala.
The town is located on the left (eastern) bank of the riverMeriç (Greek: Evros, historically the Hebrus) where itsestuary broadens to flow into theGulf of Saros (the ancient Melas Gulf) and so into theAegean Sea. Enez occupies a ridge of rock surrounded by broad marshes. In ancient Greek times it lay on a land route for trade from theBlack Sea to the Aegean and was a port for transporting the wood and fruit produced in eastern and central Thrace.[3]
The mythical and eponymous founder of the ancient Greek city of Ainos/Aenus was said to beAeneus, a son of the godApollo and father ofCyzicus. Another mythical ruler, namedPoltys, son ofPoseidon, entertainedHeracles when he came to Aenus. On that occasion, Heracles slew Poltys' insolent brotherSarpedon on the beach of Aenus. According to Strabo, Sarpedon is the name of the coastline near Aenus, so both Poltys and Sarpedon would appear to be eponyms.
TheSuda suggests that the first settlers were Greeks from theAlopeconnesus and later more settlers came fromMytilene andKyme[4] which agrees with whatHarpocration had written.[5]
Presumably because of the similarity of the names,Virgil hadAeneas founding the city after the destruction ofTroy.[6] A surer sign of its antiquity comes from theIliad, whereHomer mentions thatPeirous, who led Troy'sThracian allies, came from Aenus.[7]
Herodotus (7.58) andThucydides[8] say Aenus was anAeolian colony.Pseudo-Scymnus andScymnus Chius (696) say that the colonists came fromMytilene onLesbos Island, whileStephanus Byzantius says they came (also?) fromCumae.[9] According to Strabo (p. 319), a more ancient name for the place was Poltyobria while Stephanus says it was also called Apsinthus.[9]
As asubject ally of Athens, Aenus providedpeltasts at theBattle of Sphacteria in 425 BC and sent forces to theSicilian Expedition in 415.[3]
During the Hellenistic period Ainos changed hands multiple times. After a spell of Macedonian rule, the city passed toLysimachos of Thrace after the death ofAlexander the Great, and was subsequently taken by theSeleucid Empire after his defeat and death at theBattle of Corupedium in 281 BC. It then became a possession of thePtolemaic Kingdom, when it was captured as a result of theThird Syrian War around 246 BC, it was subsequently captured byPhilip V of Macedon in 200 BC, and later byAntiochus the Great, who lost it to the Romans in 185 BC, whereupon the Romans declared Aenus afree city. It was still a free city in the time ofPliny the Elder.[3][9]
The city is mentioned first among the cities of the province ofRhodope in the 6th-centurySynecdemus of Hierocles.[10] UnderJustinian I (r. 527–565), the city wall was heightened and the previously unprotected shore fortified.[10] In the middle Byzantine period, the city was part of theTheme of Thrace.[10] In 1091, in the nearby hamlet of Lebounion, EmperorAlexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and hisCuman alliesdealt a crushing defeat on thePechenegs.[10] In 1189, the town was plundered by soldiers of theThird Crusade under Duke Frederick of Swabia, with the inhabitants fleeing by ship.[10] In thePartitio Romaniae of 1204, the city is attested as a distinct district (catepanikium de Eno). UnderLatin rule, it was the seat of a Catholic bishop (a suffragan ofTrajanopolis), while in a document of 1219 the Crusader barons Balduin de Aino and Goffred de Mairi are mentioned as lords of the city.[10] In 1237 a Cuman raid reached the city, and in 1294 it was besieged by theBulgarians underConstantine Tikh and hisTatar allies until the Byzantines released SultanKaykawus II.[10] In June 1265 EmperorMichael VIII Palaiologos granted theVenetians the right to settle and trade in the city.[10]
In 1347, John Palaiologos, Marquess of Montferrat, planned to take over the city.[10] In 1351,John V Palaiologos demanded possession of Ainos from the senior emperorJohn VI Kantakouzeno.[10] In the ensuingcivil war, Palaiologos signed a treaty with Venice here on 10 October 1352, securing financial assistance in exchange for ceding the island ofTenedos as collateral.[10] After Palaiologos' Serbian and Bulgarian allies were defeated by Kantakouzenos' Ottoman allies, Ainos was captured by Kantakouzenos loyalists and was placed under the rule of the exiled ruler of Epirus,Nikephoros II Orsini.[11] Following the death of the Serbian emperorStephen Dushan and his governor ofThessaly,Preljub, in 1355, however, Nikephoros abandoned the city and sailed to Thessaly to claim his ancestral inheritance. His admiral Limpidarios took over control of the city in his absence, despite the opposition of Nikephoros' wife Maria Kantakouzene (daughter of John VI). Maria locked herself in the city's citadel and continued to resist for a while, before agreeing to depart.[12]
With the gradual Ottoman conquest ofThrace in the 1360s and '70s, the city became a haven for the Greek population.[12] From ca. 1384 on the city came under the rule of theGenoeseGattilusio family, beginning withNiccolo Gattilusio. The Gattilusi maintained their possession by exploiting the city's wealth, chiefly derived fromsalt pans and fisheries, and sending an annual tribute to the Ottomans. In 1408/9 Niccolo Gattilusio was deposed by his sonPalamede, who ruled until his death in 1454. His younger son, Dorino II, squabbled with Helena Notaras, the widow of Niccolo's elder son Giorgio Gattilusio, and ruled for only two years. Helena Notaras appealed to the OttomanSultan Mehmed II who attacked the city from land and sea and forced it to surrender in January 1456.[12][13]
In 1463 Ainos was given by Mehmed II to the deposedDespot of the Morea,Demetrios Palaiologos, as anappanage (along with parts ofThasos andSamothrace). He remained in possession of the town until 1467, when he fell into disgrace.[12][14] The Venetians briefly captured the city in 1469.[12]
The town gave its name to the Enos-Midia line, which briefly marked the border of the Ottoman Empire in Europe (between theKingdom of Bulgaria) in the disastrous aftermath of theFirst Balkan War. The border was shifted further northwest after the Turks made some limited gains in theSecond Balkan War, recapturing the city ofEdirne.
Enez had a large Greek population, and was affected from the 19th century onwards by ethnic conflicts and nationalistic aspirations. After theTurkish War of Independence (1919–23), theTreaty of Lausanne drew the current borders of Turkey and required Greek communities to leave Turkey while Turkish communities left Greece and Bulgaria.
Overnight Enez became a provincial backwater, a dead-end, up against an unfriendly border. It was a garrison town and military zone, off-limits to foreigners, right into the 21st century. Although foreigners are now allowed to visit, modern Enez makes a living largely from local tourism. Improved highways bring many weekenders from Istanbul. - the original town has a steady population while that of the beach strip soars in summer and drops to near zero in winter.
Enez remains the westernmost Turkish town on the European continent (excludingImbros which is an island). The town ofAlexandroupoli (Dedeağaç) lies just across the border with Greece but the two towns are separated by a swampland reserve and the Evros/Meriç River delta so that what should be a short journey actually takes about 1.5 hours. In the late 2010s and early 2020s the area became especially sensitive since it separates Turkey from the European Union. The tense situation around the border has tended to limit development in the area which has been a boon for the delta wildlife.
Enez was the site of aByzantineChurch of Hagia Sophia built in the 12th century (although some sources suggest the sixth century) but converted into a mosque during the reign ofSultan Mehmed II. The mosque was repaired several times in the 18th century but was left in ruins after an earthquake in 1965. Work began on a new restoration in 2016 and the mosque reopened for worship in 2021.[15]
The mosque stands inside the remains ofEnez Castle (Turkish:Enez Kalesi) which probably dates back to the reign of the ByzantineEmperor Justinian I and was probably built as a defence against raids from the Balkans.[16]
TheHas Yunus Bey Türbesi is a historic mosque and graveyard 300 m south of the castle which started life as a Byzantine chapel. Has Yunus Bey was the commander who captured Enez for the Ottomans and who was buried here.[17]
The only historic monument in the resort area of Enez is theSahil KervansarayI, the shell of an Ottoman caravanserai, which might have functioned as a customs office. It's believed to date back to the 16th century, when it probably stood on the coastline, now 500 m away. Local accounts suggest that it served a military function during theFirst World War, and it's therefore known as theİngiliz Kışlası ("English barracks").[18]
The city was already an episcopal see in the 4th century under bishop Olympius who was driven from the see by theArians in the reign ofConstantius II.[10] At first it was asuffragan ofTrajanopolis, the capital andmetropolitan see of theRoman province ofRhodope, but by the time of theNotitia Episcopatuum of Pseudo-Epiphanius (c. 640), it was anautocephalous archbishopric and rose to become a separate metropolitan see (without suffragans) at the end of the 11th century. Macarius took part in theCouncil of Chalcedon (451), Paul in theSecond Council of Constantinople (553), George in theTrullan Council of 692, and John in thePhotianCouncil of Constantinople (879). Another John took part in the Council of 1030/38, and Michael in the councils of 1092 and 1094.[10][19][20]
Between 1285 and 1315, the see was awarded to the Metropolitan ofAntioch in Pisidia.[10] In 1361 the see was awarded to the Metropolitan ofMakre, two years later to the Metropolitan ofSougdaia and in 1369 to the Bishop ofAthyra.[12] It remained a residential see of theGreek Orthodox Church until the 1923population exchange between Greece and Turkey. No longer a residential bishopric, Aenus is now listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[21]
