Çorlu place-name sign on the state roadD.100 (2017).
Çorlu (Turkish:[ˈtʃoɾɫu]ⓘ) is a municipality anddistrict ofTekirdağ Province, northwesternTurkey.[4] Its area is 531 km2,[5] and its population is 300,296 (2024).[3] It is a rapidly growing industrial center built on flatland located on the motorwayOtoyol 3 and off the highwayD.100 betweenIstanbul and Turkey's border withGreece andBulgaria. The nearest airport isTekirdağ-Çorlu Airport (TEQ). It is the most populated city in Turkey entirely in Europe.
During Roman andByzantine times, the town was referred to as Tzouroulos,[6] or Syrallo, and later became Tiroloi (Τυρολόη).[7] The spelling "Zorolus" is used for the Latinised form of the name of theepiscopal see identified with present-day Çorlu in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[8] Some writers have identified the Roman town ofCaenophrurium (the stronghold of theCaeni and the place where EmperorAurelian was murdered in 275) with Çorlu, but this seems unlikely as theAntonine Itinerary lists Cenofrurium as two stages and 36Roman miles (53 kilometre) closer toByzantium than Tzirallum, and theTabula Peutingeriana shows the locations separately.[7][9] There were important Roman and Byzantine fortifications at Caenophrurium, which was a base for controlling large areas of Thrace.
Following a tumultuous early history, Çorlu was brought underOttoman control by SultanMurad I, who immediately ordered the destruction of the Roman walls as part of a policy of opening up the town under thePax Ottomana. In the Ottoman period, the town remained an important staging post on the road from Constantinople to Greece.
The nearby village of Uğraşdere was the site of the battle in which SultanBeyazid II defeated his sonSelim I in August 1511; a year later Beyazid II was defeated by Selim, becoming the first Ottoman father to be overthrown by his son.Beyazid II died in Çorlu on his way to exile inDimetoka. Coincidentally,Selim himself died in Çorlu nine years into his reign. Both father and son are buried in Istanbul.
In the late 18th century, when the Ottoman Empire began to decline in both military and economic power, the city found itself at the crossroads of numerous conflicts. Turkish refugees were settled in the city when the Ottomans lost control ofCrimea to the Russians. The grandchildren of these refugees met the Russians themselves when Çorlu was briefly occupied by Russian troops duringthe Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. During theBalkan Wars of 1912–1913, Çorlu served as the command post for the Ottoman army, but was taken by Bulgarian troops in December 1912.; it was recaptured by Turkish forces during theSecond Balkan War in July 1913. Çorlu was then occupied by Greek troops from 1920 to 1922 during theTurkish War of Independence, but was eventually ceded by Britain in accordance with the armistice of Mudanya. The Greeks of Çorlu (Tiroloi) then resettled inPtolemaida after thepopulation exchange.
The city became a part of theRepublic of Turkey following its foundation in 1923. It continues to be an important garrison for the Turkish army as the home of the 189th Infantry Regiment. At the2013 Turkish local government reorganisation part of the district of Çorlu was detached to form the new districtErgene.[10][11]
Historical municipal building of the city.5th Army CorpsÇorlu war memorialFatih Mosque (1453)
The city today is more populous than the provincial capital ofTekirdağ, owing to a population spurt initially caused by the exodus of Turks from Bulgaria in 1989 who complemented the traditional left-leaning, industrial working-class of Çorlu; a second wave of migrants from ruralAnatolia came to work in the factories in the 1990s and they now make up much of the conservative populace of the city. There are also smallRomani and Jewish communities.[12] For a while the city also had a population of ethnicAlbanians andBosnians flown in during theKosovo conflict[13] as part of Turkey andNorth Macedonia's efforts to aid the populations of formerYugoslavia by offering them temporary asylum.
The town centre consists of a mixture of traditional structures and modern concrete apartment blocks providingpublic housing, as well as amenities such as basic shopping andfast-food restaurants, and essential infrastructure. However, there is little in the way of culture beyond cinemas and wedding-party venues. The road through the city center is often congested, as it isn't adequate for the needs of a city of a quarter million people. Local shopping facilities have recently been enhanced by the 25 km2 Orion Mall. There is little to no nightlife but, since Çorlu is close to Istanbul, locals can and often do easily go to "the city" for the weekend.
Çorlu today is a typical Turkishboomtown. The population grew rapidly without proper infrastructure being developed to cope. The city center has remained almost the same size since the early 1990s when the population started to rise. The prison, the 5th Army Corps, a gas station etc. used to be outside the town before the "boom" but are not part of the city center. Since around year 2000, the eastern side of the city has been filling up with tower blocks which constitute a satellite area. AlongsideOmurtak Boulevard on the east side, many facilities appeared (banks, restaurants, malls, police station etc.), creating a second "center" and reducing the need to travel to the actual center.
Çorlu has very little to show for its past although the simple Fatih Mosque does date back to 1453 and the Süleymaniye Mosque to 1521.[14] In 1970,[15] the town's one synagogue was converted into the Yeni Camii (New Mosque). It was restored in accordance with the original design and without changing the ceiling decorations or column capitals.
With more than 300 factories[citation needed], Çorlu is a major textile-producing town, withLevi's andMavi Jeans being among the companies that have factories here as well as largeoutlet centers intended to attract consumers from all overThrace and Istanbul (Levi's closed its Çorlu factory in August 2014).
Çorlu also produces foodstuffs and soft drinks like Coca-Cola, and Unilever products like Algida ice-cream and Calvé condiments. As of 2009, Hewlett-Packard and Foxconn Group have formed a joint venture to build a large factory and production complex that will enable the two companies to use Çorlu, and Turkey in general, as the hub of their production activities for Eastern Europe and the Middle East.[19]
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