Historical Neighborhoods of Edirne

Developing out of its former role as an old Byzantine fortress, the city advanced greatly as a Turkish-Muslim city in the Ottoman Empire. The main means of growth resulted from the establishment of benevolent facilities managed by a charitable foundation. These charitable foundations, known as Wakfs, had a significant impact on facilitating the shift towards settled living in both Anatolia and Rumelia. The advancement was greatly enhanced by the buildings, constructions and enhancement efforts directed by the successive sultans and prominent state members of varying levels of authority (second-degree, and third-degree officials of the state). Edirne was established based on the formula that declares, “there is a mosque in the center of the neighborhood and the neighborhood is a physical unit as well as a social unit”, and this type of settlement approach was then implemented in most neighborhoods. The chapter examines the various original establishments, such as mosques, baths, fountains, and soup kitchens, as well as the layout of settlements.

Today, the old neighborhoods within each district have amalgamated to create novel neighborhoods. The fundamental constituents of the old neighborhoods in the nine regions encompassing public kitchens, mosques, baths, charitable endowments, thoroughfares, and residences endure in certain neighborhoods to a certain extent, whereas in other areas, they have become entirely extinct.

In the existing housing settlements, one can see the effect of traditional Anatolian housing types, Hilani and Megaron, in the plans of houses in the outer districts, and even in the city center. Plan types with outer sofas could have one, two, three, or four rooms, while two- and three-roomed examples are more common.