Gelibolu

History

The Macedonian city of Kallipolis was founded in the 5th century B.C. After the capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, Gallipoli passed into the power of the Republic of Venice. In 1294 the Genoese defeated a Venetian force in the neighbourhood. The Catalan Company, a body of Almogavars, under Roger de Flor, established themselves here in 1306, and after the death of their leader massacred almost all the citizens; they were vainly besieged by the allied troops of Venice and the Byzantine Empire, and withdrew in 1307, after dismantling the fortifications. After the city's defenses were damaged in an earthquake, it was conquered by Turks in 1354 and became the first stronghold of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. Sultan Bayezid I (1389–1403) built a castle and tower there which can still be seen. In 1416 the Venetians under Pietro Loredan defeated the Turks here. Gallipoli is the site of "tombs of the Thracian kings", which refers to the graves of the Islamic writers Ahmed Bican (died 1466) and his brother Mehmed Bican (died 1451). Throughout the Ottoman period, the town was the capital of the Sanjak of Gelibolu, and the original center of the Eyalet of the Kapudan Pasha; between 1864 and 1920 the town belonged to the Edirne Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. In 1904 the Greek bishopric of Kallipolis was promoted to a metropolis and is listed under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. From the early 17th century until the early 20th century, a relatively large number of Sephardic Jews lived in Gallipoli, descendants of those fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. In 1854 the town was occupied by the allied French and British armies during the Crimean War who strengthened the defensive constructions from 1357. Many soldiers died there of cholera and are buried…