ABOUT  KIRKLARELİ

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          Kırklareli, which have a stategic location in transition from Anatolia to Balkans for centuries, havehosted major civilizations throughout history. It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name. The Byzantine Greeks called it “Saranta Ekklisies”. In the 14th century this was translated to Turkish and called “ Kırk Kilise”. Following the establishment of Turkish Republic in 1923, sanjaks became cities and on December 20, 1924, Kırk Kilise’s name was changed to Kırklareli, meaning The Place of the Forties. The Bulgarian name of the town is Lozengrad which means vineyard town.

          Hızırbey Islamic Social Complex is located in downtown, of Kırklareli city. Hızırbey Islamic Social Complex was built by Köse Mihalzade Hızır Bey in 1383. It consists of a mosque, a turkish bath and a bazaar. Hızırbey Turkish Bath ıt is in the city center of Kırklareli, on the Cumhuriyet Square. It was built by Köse Mihalzade Hızır Bey in 1383 and rebuilt by Hacı Hüseyin Ağa, in1683. It is stil active. Bazaar, ıt was built contiguously to Hızırbey Bath in the city center.

Taken under protection by registered as “ Urban Protected Area” in the city center, Yayla Neighborhood is the most important traditional neighborhood deemed as “Kepek Yayla”.There is a park which was the midpoint of the society.

The Kırklareli Atatürk House was built by the Municipality of Kırklareli, under the direction of the Mayor of Kırklareli Mehmet Siyam Kesimoğlu and with support of the charitable citizen of Kırklareli whose heart Mustafa Kemal Atatürk beats. The Kırklareli Atatürk House opened on 17. January 2018. The Kırklareli Atatürk House has the same feature as architectural plan with the Atatürk House in Thessaloniki- Greece and the room arrangement has been taken care of down to the finest detail.

Kırklareli’s customs and traditions are affected by cultural varieties of the area. Sunnah, birt, and farewell for soldiery and spring welcoming activities take an important place in Kırklareli’s customs and traditions.

Spring is greeted with Kakava and Hıdrellez in Thrace and Balkans. Kakava and Hıdrellez traditions are stil ongoning rituels in Kırklareli and cross-border region.Poem style Short stories, pinning wishes to roses, collecting forty one sorts of weeds, praying for abundance and fruitfulness, jumping from fires and putting bushes on the doors of houses in order to prevent witches from entering the houses are the most impressive and flashy rituals of Hıdrellez. During the festival nights you can watch concerts of famous artists.During daytimes there are various competitions, activities and shows.

Cheese has a special flavor as the  shepps, goats and cows in Kırklareli are raised in their natural environments. Cheese has a great importance in terms of gastronomy tourism in Kırklareli.

İğneada, which is 25 kilometers away from Demirköy 97 kilometers from Kırklareli. İğneada is famous about its Longoz Forests, mountains, seas, lakes, its clean air, bio-divercity, wildlife, sand dunes, fish species and medicinal plants found in the woods. There is also a significant potential in İğneada for ecotourism.