Determination and evaluation of castles within the borders of Edirne province

Thrace of Turkey has been important during the historical ages, with its location on the European-Asian transit route, with its important main highways passing through it, with its coast to the Aegean, Marmara and Black Sea, with its sea transportation opportunities, especially with the advantage of grain products obtained from its fertile lands. For all these strategic reasons, the Eastern Thrace peninsula was home to many castles established as commercial centers where the administration, authority and goods of the empires under which they mostly remained were protected in order to trade manufactured goods. In addition, these castles were placed on the land within a certain plan and became part of a military strategy. Castles are also shaped according to the age in which they were built, the needs of the society, the information and material opportunities of the culture, the topographic areas in which they were established, and have plan types and contents that will respond to very different needs. Edirne, the westernmost part of the Thrace of Turkey, has an important waterway that provides access to the Aegean Sea from the Castle-City of Edirne, near the castle of Enez, especially in the historical process, which forms the present-day Greece-Turkey border. This strategic situation of the Meriç River is an impressive element in the settlement of the castles. Also, some examples of castles, some of which remain standing on the Greek side, are introduced in the evaluation section of the thesis. It was determined by the determination of the network of castles around which Edirne Castle assumed a central role. The borders of Edirne have a structure extending on a north-south axis and there are many castle ruins within the area covered. In this area, many castles and a tower belonging to the Late Iron Age of Thrace, Roman and Byzantine periods were found in the wide area from the northernmost border to the southernmost shores of the Gulf of Saros. In addition, 1 on Büyükada, one of the three islands in the Gulf of Saroz, there are the remains of a fortress belonging to the Ottoman Empire period whose name was first mentioned in the document of the year 1731. A total of 24 areas were covered in the thesis, including 16 castles that can be traced, 7 possible castle areas with no defensive wall traces, 1 castle (Ottoman period) area with no land study, previously worked on and information about. The fortification area on Hisarlıdağ, belonging to The Late Iron Age period, near Enez during the study, is important as the first of its kind and is notable for its structure built on a very large area. It has been extensively studied, its plan has been drawn up and its function has been determined by approximately dating. In addition, the remains of a circular fortification building located within the land of Yazır (Çandır) village near this fortification area is the fortification mansion built for the use of the chief of the regional tribe. The plan of this remnant was also drawn up and compared to similar specimens in the distant and nearby geography and examined extensively. As a result of the determination and evaluation of the castles in Edirne province, it was understood that the number of castles and settlements with fortifications was not to be underestimated, that the majority belonged to the Byzantine period, that all of them were made with stone material, that late Demirçağ castles were made with dry stone masonry technique and that no mortar was used. The Byzantine period castles were constructed with rubble stone masonry technique and some used brick material. In the evaluation section, the castles are classified according to the areas in which they are concentrated, the areas in which they are located, the plan characteristics, the architectural features and the construction materials. The thesis study gave identification to these structures, whose histories are unknown in the region, with the rich Castle finds encountered, made plans, examined extensively, and aimed to be a pioneer for later archaeological excavations. Keywords: Edirne, castle, horia, oppida, settlement with fortifications, tower, Late Iron Age, Thrak, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman