Edirne, formerly Adrianople, is Turkey's westernmost city with
almost 170,000 inhabitants. It is located in the
Bulgarian-Greek-Turkish border triangle, in Eastern Thrace, the
European part of Turkey. At the same time it is also the center of
the central district (Merkez). Edirne was temporarily the capital of
the Ottoman Empire and is now the administrative center of the
province of the same name. In its history it bore the names Odrysai
(Thracian), Orestia (ancient Greek) and Hadrianopolis (Latin, city
of Hadrian).
In Edirne, the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire
concluded peace three times, with the Holy Roman Empire in 1568 and
with the Russian Empire in 1713 and 1829.
Selimiye Mosque (Selimiye Camii). The magnificent mosque dominates
the city skyline. It's best approached from the northwest to get the
full effect and visit the shops along the way. It is the masterpiece of
Mimar Sinan, built in 1569-75 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. The eight columns supporting the dome are unobtrusive, allowing
the dome to float over a vast interior space while 999 windows let in a
flood of light. Four delicate fluted minarets rise to 70.89 m, surpassed
only by Qutub Minar in Delhi. The interior is decorated with calligraphy
and geometric patterns in pink and blue. The inverted tulip decoration,
an emblem of Edirne, is intended to recognize the previous landowner who
did not want to give up his tulip garden to build the mosque.
Old
Mosque (Eski Cami, Edirne) . It was built in the 15th century, making it
the oldest and smallest of the city's three imperial mosques. It is a
low-rise building with nine domes and two minarets, with distinctive
calligraphy inside.
Üç Şerefeli Mosque (Üç Şerefeli Cami) . Its name
refers to the three balconies or galleries on the tallest minaret. The
other three minarets are all designed differently. The interior of the
mosque has a colorfully decorated central dome surrounded by smaller
domes in different color patterns supported by stately columns.
Muradiye Mosque (Muradiye Camii). This was built in 1435/36 as part of a
Mevlevi dervish complex, but later became a mosque in its own right. It
has beautiful tile work, especially in the mihrab, probably by the
"Masters of Tabriz" who decorated the mosque in Bursa and later the Üç
Şerefeli Mosque in Edirne. Some of the wall decorations were
whitewashed, and the building required repairs several times after
earthquakes: the minaret was rebuilt in 1957. It's in a dingy area where
children beg for baksheesh.
Great Synagogue (Edirne Büyük Sinagogu).
The Great Fire of 1905 destroyed its predecessor, so this synagogue
opened in 1909 to serve the large Jewish population. They were mostly
Sephardic and descended from those who were expelled from Spain in 1492
and fled to Ottoman territory. The synagogue is built in the Moorish
style and modeled on the Leopoldstadt Temple in Vienna. It was abandoned
in 1983 and fell into disrepair as its congregation left for Israel and
elsewhere. It was restored and reopened with a service in 2015, but is
not routinely used for religious services. There is a small museum
inside.
St. Constantine and Helena Church (Sveti Konstantin-Elena
Kilisesi) . Bulgarian Orthodox church from 1869.
Saint George Church
(Sveti Georgi Bulgar Kilisesi (Edirne)) . Basilica-style Bulgarian
Orthodox church opened in 1880 and still in use. Normally closed except
for church services. The caretaker will allow visitors in upon request.
Also ask him to see the museum upstairs and climb the bell tower.
Arasta Bazaar. The market hall along the southwest flank of the mosque
is worth a visit, even if you don't want to buy anything.
Macedonian
Tower (Makedon Kulesi). Here are the last remains of the Roman city
walls: they were part of the fortress built by Hadrian in the 2nd
century AD and expanded in the Byzantine 10th century. There were four
watchtowers, and this one looked towards Macedonia, although they were
most eager to wait for the Bulgarians or the fires in the city. The
fortress was demolished in the 19th century, leaving only this tower on
which a clock tower was built. It was shaken by several earthquakes and
had to be partially dismantled in 1953. Some modern repairs have been
made, but the tower is dilapidated and cannot be entered.
Sokullu
Mehmet Paşa Hamamı. This hammam is another masterpiece of Sinan, the
great architect. Built in 1568-69, the baths are still open to the
public today, with (of course) separate areas for men and women. The
building has been well restored, but the cleanliness and water
temperature are unpredictable, so it is better to look at it rather than
swim.
Museum of Archeology and Ethnography. The original 1924 museum
was part of the mosque complex; It moved here in 1971 when the
collection expanded. The museum shows the eventful history of the region
with a focus on the Thracian period. The gardens contain a prehistoric
dolmen removed from its original location, a reconstructed ancient
Thracian hut, and Roman and Ottoman tombstones.
Museum of Islamic Art
(İslam Eserleri Müzesi). This was the original Edirne Museum in a
madrassah of the mosque. The main collection moved across the street in
1971. You enter the museum past a statue of Sinan the Architect. Lots of
calligraphy and other fine arts and crafts.
Şükrü Paşa Memorial.
Monument to Rüştü Pasha, the commander who defended the city during the
Balkan Wars of 1913. The adjacent small museum is closed indefinitely
“for restoration.”
Historical caravanserai Rüstepaşa. The Vervansaray
is very old - more than 600 years old. The caravans to and from Istanbul
used to rest there. Now it is a market selling a variety of goods, many
of them traditional Turkish goods.
Caravanserai Ekmekçizade. Also
known as Ayşe Kadın Hanı, it is a building that now serves as the State
Theater. This structure was built in 1609 by Sedefkar Mehmed Ağa and
Edirne architect Hacı Şaban Ağa at the request of Ekçekçizade Ahmet
Pasha and was donated to Sultan Ahmed.
Deveci Han Kervansarayi. Today
an office building and multi-purpose hall for exhibitions.
Kanuni Bridge (Kanuni Köprüsü). medieval stone bridge.
Saraçhane
Bridge (Saraçhane Köprüsü). medieval stone bridge.
Edirne Palace
Ruins (Edirne Sarayı). The palace was built between 1450 and 1475 and
was the seat of power of the Ottoman Empire. Even when the capital was
moved to Constantinople, it was still a great summer retreat and hunting
lodge. But from 1718 onwards it suffered neglect, earthquakes, fire,
military occupation and finally in 1878 an ammunition depot within it
was deliberately blown up to prevent capture by foreign troops. The
kitchens have been restored. Today you can only see the foundation
walls.
Kum Kasrı Hamam
Matbah-ı Âmire. known as the kitchen
structure of the New Palace of Edirne (Saray-ı Cedid-i Âmire), built
during the reign of Mehmed in the 15th century. In addition to its
architectural features, it also reflects the peculiarities of its time
with its building materials and techniques.
Justice Tower. The
Justice Pavilion, the only surviving building of the Edirne Palace, was
built by Mimar Sinan of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1561. It has four
floors, including the ground floor, and there is a marble fountain pool
on the upper floor. In his time, it was used as Divan-ı Hümayun (Council
of Ministers) and Supreme Court.
Balkan Wars Memorial Cemetery
(Edirne Balkan Şehitliği). Around 30,000 soldiers who died in the siege
of Edirne in 1913 are buried here.
Bayezid II Health Museum (Sultan
II Bayezid Külliyesi Sağlık Müzesi). This complex was founded in 1484 by
Sultan Bayezid II. In addition to the hospital, there was a medical
school, a mosque, a guest house, a poorhouse and a Turkish bath.
Initially it was a general medical and surgical hospital, but
specialized in mental health. They followed enlightened holistic methods
before they were adopted in the West: Instead of locking patients in
cells with shackles, they used meditative music, scents and flower
gardens. It was incorporated into Trakya University and the museum
displays miniatures from Ottoman medical textbooks and models of
patients.
Hıdırlık Casemates (Hıdırlık Tabyası). A huge hilltop
redoubt and fortress built from 1829 against Russian attacks, although
its heyday was in the Balkan Wars of 1913. It had little value against
the weapons of the 20th century and fell into disrepair. The restoration
has been underway since 2011 with no end in sight, so the fortress
remains fenced off, although you can still access Hıdır Baba Park.
Karaağaç Train Station (Karaağaç Tren İstasyonu). is not where you would
expect the city's main train station to be. But the first railway from
Istanbul to Europe ran further south, then curved through the Maritsa
Valley, entered Karaağaç station, and then continued up the valley
toward Bulgaria. After the Treaty of Lausanne defined the river as the
border, trains (such as the Orient Express) had to enter Greece twice
while transiting between Turkey and Bulgaria. It wasn't until the 1970s
that a new track was laid, cutting this place off; In 1998 it became
part of the university. At the old train station there is a small
museum, a wooded park and sculpture garden, and a monument to the
treaty.
Lalapaşa dolmens. It is a stone passageway to graves, which
were originally all covered by a mound of earth. Dolmens in Thrace are
typically Late Bronze/Early Iron Age, 1400-900 BC. The dolmen is located
in the village center. There are others further northeast along this
road.
Hamam visit
A hamam is a traditional Turkish bathhouse that has
long been more than a place to wash. It is a social institution, a
health ritual, and a living piece of Ottoman urban life. Visitors come
to cleanse the skin, sweat out fatigue, talk with friends, and leave
feeling lighter. The custom grew from Roman and Byzantine public baths,
then took a distinct form under the Ottomans, who tied bathing to
Islamic ideas of ritual purity and to everyday city life. That tradition
still exists across Turkey and in many other countries that once
belonged to the Ottoman world.
From Roman thermae to Ottoman
civic baths
Public bathing in Anatolia did not start with the
Ottomans. Roman thermae already used heated floors, steam rooms, and a
sequence of cold, warm, and hot chambers. Byzantine baths continued that
pattern. After Turkish settlement in Anatolia, those older models mixed
with Islamic hygiene rules that treat cleanliness as a religious duty
before prayer. By the 15th and 16th centuries the Ottomans had turned
the bath into a standard piece of city infrastructure. Sultans and
wealthy patrons built hamams as part of mosque complexes (külliye) that
also included schools, kitchens, and fountains. The bath generated
income for the endowment that supported the rest of the complex. At the
height of the empire Istanbul had more than 200 hamams. Only a fraction
still operate.
Architecturally a classic hamam has three main rooms:
Camekan - the entrance hall where you change, rest, and drink tea after
the bath
Ilıklık - a warm transition room so the body can adjust
Hararet (sıcaklık) - the hot steam chamber under a large dome pierced
with star-shaped openings. In the center sits the göbek taşı, a heated
marble platform where you lie to sweat.
Marble basins (kurna)
line the walls. Water is poured over the body rather than sitting in a
shared pool. Gender separation was the rule: either two complete halves
of the building or different hours for men and women.
Social life
inside the steam
In Ottoman society the hamam was one of the few
public places where women could gather without male relatives. Bridal
baths, celebrations after the birth of a child, and ordinary weekly
visits mixed gossip, matchmaking, and display of jewelry and embroidered
wraps. Men used the same spaces for conversation and business. Clothing
came off, so rank was less visible. That egalitarian quality is still
part of the atmosphere in neighborhood hamams, even if tourist venues
now feel more like spas.
What happens during a visit
A typical
session lasts 60-90 minutes. You undress in a private cubicle, wrap
yourself in a thin cotton peştemal, and move into the hot room. After
10-20 minutes of sweating on the marble, an attendant of the same gender
(tellak for men, natır for women) performs a kese - a vigorous scrub
with a coarse mitt that removes dead skin. A foam massage with olive-oil
soap follows, then rinsing with bowls of water. Many places add an oil
massage afterward. You finish in the camekan with tea or ayran.
Practical points for first-time visitors:
Book historic Istanbul
hamams in advance, especially on weekends.
Historic venues are
usually gender-separated. Hotel spas may allow mixed bathing.
Wear
the peştemal; underwear or a swimsuit underneath is common and accepted.
Full nudity is not required in most tourist-oriented places.
Leave
jewelry and phones in the locker. Photography inside the bathing rooms
is generally not allowed.
Drink water before and after. The heat is
dehydrating.
Tip the attendant 10-15 percent in cash, handed
directly.
People with heart conditions, very high or low blood
pressure, or who are pregnant should ask a doctor first.
Where to
go
Several 16th-century buildings designed by Mimar Sinan still
function as working baths:
Hürrem Sultan Hamamı (1556-57) between
Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, commissioned by Roxelana, wife of
Süleyman the Magnificent. It was the first hamam with equally grand male
and female halves.
Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı in Tophane (1578-83), built
for an Ottoman admiral.
Çemberlitaş Hamamı (1584), commissioned by
Nurbanu Sultan near the Grand Bazaar.
Cağaloğlu Hamamı (1741), one of
the last major imperial baths constructed before new building was
restricted.
By plane
Istanbul Airport (IATA: IST) is the nearest Turkish
airport.
Alexandroupolis Airport (IATA: AXD), this Greek
provincial airport is closer than that of Istanbul.
By train
One regional train to Istanbul per day leaves Kapikule at the
Bulgarian border and stops at both train stations in Edirne. There
is also a night train from Bucharest and Sofia to Istanbul. More
information here: [Timetables].
1 Edirne Central Station
(Edirne Garı) is the main railway station, 4 km east of the city
center, close to the highway to Istanbul. International and regional
trains stop here.
2 Edirne Şehir Railway Station (Edirne Şehir
Tren İstasyonu) is located 1 km southwest of the center, on the edge
of the old town near the river bank. The regional trains stop here,
but not the international trains.
3 Kastanies Train Station
(σιδηροδρομικός σταθμός Καστανιών) just over the border with Greece
and 4 km southwest of Edirne. It is served by Greek TrainOSE trains
from Alexandroupolis to Dikaia. The journey takes just over two
hours. In February 2021, there was only a single train leaving
Alexandroupolis before 09:00 and returning from Kastaniés around
midday.
By bus
Buses depart from Istanbul Esenler Station
at least hourly, taking 2 to 4 hours non-stop. Metro Turizm is the
main operator. In normal times, buses run 24 hours a day, but in
early 2021 they will end between midnight and 5:00 a.m. Buses also
run from Canakkale to Edirne via the Gallipoli Peninsula, Keşan and
Uzunköprü. At the beginning of 2021 they will only run once a day,
operated by Isparta.
On the street
The city is located on
the main highways between Turkey and Europe, the toll-free D100 and
the toll highway O-3/E80. Istanbul is 224 km to the east, about a
two-hour drive.
All border crossings are open 24 hours. The
main border post is Kapikule (Turkey) / Kapitan Andreevo (Bulgaria),
15 km west of Edirne. Svilengrad, 8 km further, is the first
Bulgarian city that can be reached from there.
A smaller
border crossing is located near Pazarkule (Turkey) / Kastaniés
(Greece) 4 km southwest of the city and 40 km north on the D535 at
Hamzabeyli (Turkey) / Lesovo (Bulgaria).
The historic and commercial center is compact, mostly level, and easy
to cover on foot. Most restaurants, shops, the main square, and the
principal sights sit within a short walking radius, so you can explore
the core without any transport on a typical day.
Once you leave that
core, distances stretch quickly. Hotels, beaches, residential
neighborhoods, and outlying attractions often sit far enough that a walk
becomes hot, tiring, and time-consuming, especially in summer or with
bags. In those cases it is smarter to take a taxi or a dolmus, at least
in one direction.
Walking
Best for the center, waterfront, and
short hops between nearby landmarks.
Surfaces are mixed: some streets
are paved and flat, others have uneven stones, steps, or narrow
sidewalks.
Midday heat and hills on the edges of town make longer
walks less pleasant. Carry water and plan shade breaks.
If you have
limited mobility, luggage, or children, treat walking as a center-only
option.
Dolmus (shared minibus)
The everyday local option:
small minibuses that run fixed routes between the center, hotels,
beaches, and nearby villages.
Destination is shown on a sign in the
windshield. Wave the vehicle down along the route or board at a marked
stop.
Pay in cash with small notes after you sit down. Fares are low
compared with a private taxi.
Tell the driver where you want to get
off, or say “inecek var” when you are approaching your stop.
Frequency is good during the day on main lines and thinner late at night
or to quieter outskirts. Vehicles can fill quickly in high season.
Taxi
Use official yellow taxis from a rank or a hotel desk. Ask
the driver to start the meter, or agree a price before you leave if that
is local practice.
Best when you have luggage, are traveling late,
need a door-to-door drop, or want a one-way ride after a long walk or
beach day.
A common pattern is to walk one way while you still have
energy and take a taxi or dolmus back.
Historic covered bazaars
Ali Paşa Çarşısı (Ali Pasha Bazaar) is
the liveliest and most useful historic market. Built in 1568-1569 by
Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Semiz Ali Pasha, it is a long vaulted
arasta roughly 300 meters long with more than 130 shops lining a central
aisle. Evliya Çelebi described it as having castle-like gates at both
ends. Today it sells clothing, scarves, bags, leather goods, textiles,
fruit-shaped soaps, sweets, spices, and everyday items. Quality varies;
some stalls are tourist-oriented, others serve locals. Hours are
typically 8:00 or 9:00 to 19:30 or 20:00. Haggling is expected on
textiles and souvenirs.
The striped brick-and-stone vaults and
the dense display of scarves and soaps give the bazaar its character.
Fruit-shaped soaps (meyve sabunu) are a signature souvenir here.
They are decorative more than practical; the real olive-oil soaps are
usually sold separately.
Selimiye Arastası (also called Kavaflar
Çarşısı) sits immediately beside Selimiye Mosque. Built around 1590 to
generate income for the mosque complex, it is a long domed arcade with
traditional handicrafts, souvenirs, towels, peshtemals, local sweets,
and some antique or vintage pieces. It is the best single stop if you
want to combine shopping with a visit to Sinan’s masterpiece.
Edirne Bedesten is the oldest covered market, completed in 1418 under
Sultan Mehmed I next to the Old Mosque. It originally stored and sold
high-value goods (textiles, jewelry, weapons). Architecturally it is a
sturdy rectangular hall with 14 domes. Today many shops sell cheaper
imported goods and souvenirs rather than artisan work, but the building
itself is worth walking through.
Saraçlar Caddesi is the main
pedestrian shopping street that ties the bazaars together. Confectionery
shops, leather stores, and everyday retailers line it. It is the easiest
place to find boxed almond paste and Deva-i Misk.
Weekly open-air
markets
These are where locals actually shop.
Saturday Market
(Cumartesi Pazarı / “Blue Market”) near Margi Outlet and the 1. Murat
district is the largest. Wednesday is a secondary day. Expect fresh
produce, cheese, olives, jams, clothing, textiles, shoes, and household
goods. Bargaining is common on non-food stalls. Sunday often hosts a
smaller village producers’ market with homemade foods.
Balkan Pazarı
/ Friday Ulus Market focuses on clothing, underwear, tracksuits,
children’s wear, fabrics, carpets, curtains, and kitchenware. Many
branded items are imitations. It is crowded in the morning. Cross-border
shoppers from Bulgaria are a large part of the crowd.
Arrive
early on market days for better selection. Compare prices across several
stalls before buying textiles.
Modern shopping
Margi Outlet is
an open-air outlet popular with Balkan visitors. Brands include US Polo
Assn., LC Waikiki, Adidas, Levi’s and Turkish labels. Hours 10:00-22:00.
Prices on polo shirts and similar items are often substantially lower
than in the EU.
Erasta AVM is the more conventional enclosed mall,
with H&M, Mavi, US Polo, a large 5M Migros supermarket, food court, and
cinema. Same hours. Good when you want fixed prices, air conditioning,
or groceries.
Pharmacies and Migros/5M stores are also part of the
shopping mix for visitors from neighboring countries because regulated
medicine and dairy prices remain lower than in the EU.
What to
buy
Food and edible gifts
Edirne white cheese (Edirne peyniri):
lightly salted sheep-and-cow milk cheese with a distinctive texture. Buy
from bazaar shops or markets; keep it cold.
Badem ezmesi (almond
paste): the city’s signature sweet, made from almonds, sugar, and lemon.
Sold in historic confectionery shops on and near Saraçlar Caddesi.
Travels well if boxed tightly.
Deva-i Misk: an old Ottoman-style
aromatic paste/halva with a layered, slightly spicy character. Sold in
the same confectionery shops.
Kavala-style almond cookies, dried
fruits, nuts, local honey, olive oil, Meriç rice, and Thrace wines.
Fruit-shaped soaps and traditional olive-oil soaps (lavender, rose).
Real washing soaps are different from the decorative fruit versions.
Crafts and textiles
Peshtemals, towels, embroidered tablecloths,
and scarves.
Leather wallets, belts, and bags.
Copperware and
Ottoman-style ceramics.
Edirnekârî: painted and lacquered woodwork
unique to the city (boxes, trays, small chests). Look in Selimiye
Arastası and specialist craft shops. Check joinery and finish rather
than buying the shiniest piece.
Kırkpınar wrestling-themed souvenirs
on Saraçlar Caddesi.
Avoid assuming every “handmade” item is
local. Compare several shops and ask about origin.
Why Edirne eats this way
Edirne was an Ottoman capital before
Istanbul. Palace cooking, Balkan pastoral meat, and Thracian grain all
left a mark. Liver was cheap, abundant, and easy to cook fast for market
crowds. The technique that became the city’s signature is simple and
unforgiving: very thin slices of fresh calf or lamb liver, lightly
floured, dropped into very hot oil (or, in better kitchens, clarified
butter), fried for only a minute or two so the outside crisps and the
inside stays tender. Overcook it and it turns hard. Let it sit and it
goes limp. That is why locals eat it immediately, standing or at a small
table, with bread, sumac onion, and blistered hot peppers.
Edirne
Tava Ciğeri received a Turkish geographical indication in 2010. A second
liver dish, ciğer sarma (spiced liver and rice wrapped in lamb caul fat
and baked), is more ceremonial and also tied to the region. Hardaliye, a
fermented grape drink flavored with mustard seed and herbs, is the local
non-alcoholic counterpoint to ayran.
The highest density of ciğerci
(liver shops) sits in Kaleiçi and around Selimiye Mosque - especially
Tahmis, Çilingirler Caddesi, Ortakapı / Saraçlar, and Balıkpazarı /
Osmaniye Caddesi. Lunch queues are a reliable quality signal.
Signature dishes you will see on almost every serious menu
Tava ciğer
/ yaprak ciğer. Paper-thin liver, flour, hot fat, salt, pul biber.
Served with fried sivri biber, raw onion with sumac, tomato, fresh
bread, and ayran. Some shops also wrap it as dürüm.
Edirne köftesi.
Hand-chopped or coarsely minced beef (sometimes with rib meat), grilled
over charcoal, served with rice or beans, piyaz, grilled vegetables, and
a tomato sauce. Less famous than the liver, but many locals eat it as
often.
Ciğer sarma. Liver, onion, İpsala rice, pine nuts, currants,
herbs, wrapped in caul and baked. Not every ciğerci offers it every day.
Elbasan tava. Balkan-style lamb baked under a yogurt-egg sauce.
Mutancana / zirva. Sweet-savory Ottoman lamb with dried fruit, sometimes
saffron.
Soups. Mercimek, bulgur, kelle paça in winter.
Sweets.
Badem ezmesi (almond paste), Hayrabolu tatlısı (fresh unsalted cheese
soaked in syrup, with or without kaymak or tahini), Kavala cookies,
zerde.
Expect 2026 lunch prices at specialist ciğerci roughly 200-450
TL per person for a full liver plate with sides; busier or more
tourist-facing rooms can run 400-600 TL. Meyhane dinners with rakı and
meze cost more.
Landmark liver restaurants
Aydın Tava Ciğer
Sabuni Mahallesi, Tahmis Çarşısı Sokak No: 8. Opened 1998. Closed
Sundays
One of the most cited modern specialists. Focused menu, thin
crispy slices, constant queue on Tahmis. Good first stop if you want the
classic plate without hunting side streets. Phone often listed as 0284
214 10 46.
Ciğerci Niyazi Usta
Mithatpaşa / Ortakapı Caddesi
(two branches). Family story starts in a grandfather’s köfte shop in the
1970s; own ciğerci from 1983. Typical hours around 10:30-20:50.
Broader menu than the pure specialists: liver plus köfte, sucuk, even
hamburger for mixed groups. Consistently named among the city’s most
popular. Arrive before 13:00 if you want a short wait.
Meşhur
Edirne Ciğercisi Kazım ve İlhan Usta
Dilaverbey Mahallesi, Osmaniye
Caddesi No: 69, Balıkpazarı. Operating since 1964. Multi-floor room.
The oldest of the big names still running under the founding family.
Reputation for very thin, clean frying and a short supporting menu
(lentil soup, cacık, salad, Hayrabolu tatlısı). Slightly off the
Selimiye tourist crush, which many regulars prefer. Phone often listed
as 0284 212 12 80.
Çiçek Tava Ciğer Salonu (Nusret Usta)
Sabuni, Çilingirler Caddesi. Opened 1992 by Nusret Demir, who trained
under older Edirne masters. Often closed Tuesday; typical hours
10:30-17:30.
Small, local, and frequently ranked at the top of
Turkish-language lists. Cooked to order. Good if you want a compact shop
rather than a multi-floor restaurant. Phone often listed as 0284 225 20
80.
Edirne Ciğercisi Kemal Usta
Mithatpaşa / Ortakapı area.
Another established name on the same circuit as Niyazi. Reliable for the
standard plate with vegetables and bread.
Akgünler Ciğercisi
Near the covered pazar. Smaller room, more side dishes (cacık is often
recommended to cut the heat of the peppers). Sometimes mentioned for
trileçe as well as liver.
Walk the alleys behind Selimiye and you
will see several more ciğerci within 200 meters of each other. Names
look similar. Check the exact usta name and whether a queue exists at
lunch.
Best areas to stay
Historic center (Sabuni, Kaleiçi, Talatpaşa,
around Saraçlar Caddesi)
This is the first choice for almost
everyone. Selimiye, Eski Cami, Üç Şerefeli Cami, the Bedesten, Ali Paşa
Bazaar, and the liver restaurants are all within a 5-15 minute walk.
Streets are livelier by day and quieter at night than Istanbul. Parking
is tighter. Best if you do not have a car.
İstasyon / 1. Murat
district
A short drive or longer walk from the old core. Newer
glass-and-concrete hotels, easier parking, shopping malls, and a
slightly more business-hotel feel. Good if you arrive late by bus or car
and want a pool or spa.
Selimiye immediate surroundings
Narrow
lanes and restored houses. Atmosphere is the strongest here. You hear
the call to prayer from Sinan’s mosque. Rooms can be smaller and parking
harder.
Sarayiçi
Near the old palace grounds and the Kırkpınar
wrestling field. Greener and quieter. Useful in festival week if you
want to be close to the event without staying in the densest tourist
streets.
Karaağaç
Across the Meriç, 4-6 km from the center,
near the old railway station (now Trakya University Faculty of Fine
Arts) and the Lausanne Monument. Leafy, residential, and calmer. Better
if you have a car or want a border-area stop rather than a walking-tour
base.
Highway / outskirts hotels
Practical for drivers
crossing between Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria. Less useful if your goal
is the historic city.
Historic and boutique stays
These are
the properties that give Edirne its character. Expect thick walls,
courtyards, and rooms that are atmospheric rather than identical to a
chain hotel.
Rüstempaşa Kervansaray Hotel
The standout
historic stay. Built in 1560-61 for Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha and
attributed to Mimar Sinan (or his circle). It sat on the old trade route
as a two-story brick-and-stone han with a large courtyard. After
centuries of other uses it was restored and opened as a hotel in 1972.
That conversion later received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture. A
later restoration cycle brought it back into operation; it remains one
of the few places in Turkey where you sleep inside a working
16th-century caravanserai. Location is excellent (Sabuni / İki Kapılı
Han Caddesi, steps from the bazaars). Rooms are not five-star modern.
Stone walls can feel cool in winter. Reviews praise the courtyard,
location, and sense of place; they are mixed on consistency of heating,
breakfast timing, and service. If history is the point of the trip, stay
here or at least visit the courtyard cafe.
Taşhan Hotel
Another Sinan-era stone han, restored and run as a small hotel since
2015. It sits next to Sokullu Hamamı and opposite Üç Şerefeli Cami,
about 300 m from Selimiye. Ottoman-style rooms, garden breakfast, and a
quieter enclosed feel than the busiest bazaar streets. Ratings typically
sit in the mid-8s. A strong second historic option if the Kervansaray is
full or you want a garden rather than a large inner court.
Taşodalar (Tasodalar)
A renovated traditional house tucked behind
Selimiye. Ottoman furniture, terrace in warm months, and the closest
“wake up to the mosque” setting. Smaller and more guesthouse-like than
the two hans.
Other names that appear in boutique lists: Hotel Edirne
Palace (central, well reviewed), Antik Hotel Edirne, and various
restored houses marketed as Osmanlı evleri. Quality varies more than at
the two main hans, so check recent photos and reviews.
Modern
mid-range and upper hotels
These deliver what most travelers actually
want after a day of walking: reliable air-conditioning, parking,
breakfast buffet, and a desk that speaks some English.
WestDoor
Hotel (Westdoor)
Repeatedly among the highest-rated 4-star
properties. Sabuni Cami Sokak, very central. Guests mention clean rooms,
a strong breakfast, helpful staff, and a location that lets you walk
everywhere. Typical scores around 9.4. Often $70-90. One of the safest
“book this if you want modern comfort in the old town” picks.
The
Plaza Hotel Edirne
İstasyon / Armoni Sokak. Glass building,
restaurant (La Strada often mentioned), parking, family rooms. High
ratings (often 9.4-9.6). A short ride rather than a short walk from
Selimiye. Good for drivers and for people who want a slightly more
polished city-hotel feel.
Margi Hotel
The property most often
labeled 5-star. Atatürk Bulvarı in the 1. Murat area. Indoor pool, spa,
fitness, room service. Reviews are solid but not uniformly “true
five-star.” Useful if you want a pool after museum days. Rates often
start in the $70s off-peak.
Alan Suites
Şerif Bilgen Caddesi.
Consistently high scores (around 9.4) for cleanliness, staff, parking,
and breakfast. Slightly outside the densest historic streets. Popular
with repeat visitors and families. Good value in the $55-70 range.
Aliba Hotel
Smaller, very high guest scores (often cited around
9.7). Kanarya Sokak. Frequently listed among the best-rated stays in the
city even if it is not the largest.
Edirne sits at one of the most distinctive geographic nodes in
southeastern Europe: the meeting of three Balkan rivers on the low
Thracian plain, a few kilometers from both the Greek and Bulgarian
frontiers. That position, more than any single mountain or coastline,
explains the city’s long role as a crossing, a capital, and a border
town.
Location and setting
The city of Edirne occupies roughly
41°40′ N, 26°33′ E in the western part of Turkish Thrace (Trakya), the
European fragment of Turkey that belongs to the Marmara Region.
Provincial elevation averages about 41 m above sea level; the historic
core itself lies near 40-50 m. The province covers about 6,100-6,276
km², a compact rectangle of plains and low plateaus stretching from the
Istranca foothills in the north to the Saros (Saroz) Gulf of the Aegean
in the south.
Edirne Province is one of only three Turkish provinces
lying entirely in Europe. It is bounded by:
Bulgaria to the north
(about 88 km of frontier)
Greece to the west (about 204 km, almost
entirely along the Meriç River)
Kırklareli and Tekirdağ provinces to
the east
Çanakkale Province (Gallipoli peninsula) to the southeast
a short Aegean shoreline around Enez and the Saros Gulf to the south
The city center is only about 7 km from the Greek line and 17-20 km
from the Bulgarian line. Kapıkule, Turkey’s busiest land crossing into
Europe, sits just northwest of town on the D100 / E80 corridor that
links Istanbul with the Balkans.
Relief: a low, open landscape
True mountains are scarce. Most of the province is a gently rolling
plain and low plateau, with 70-80 percent of the land under 250 m. The
surface slopes gradually westward and southward toward the Meriç and the
Aegean. Sources commonly describe the land as about 78 percent plateau
(often looking like open plain), 17 percent true alluvial lowland, and
only about 5 percent higher hills and residual uplands.
The
surrounding high ground is modest:
Istranca (Yıldız) Mountains
approach from the northeast. Heights drop as they near the Tunca basin;
the highest Istranca peaks lie outside the province, in Kırklareli.
Koru Mountains and the related Çandır range rise in the south and
southeast, facing the Saros Gulf. Yerli Su Tepe on the Koru line is
often cited near 720-725 m, the highest point commonly associated with
the province.
Lower residual hills (Uzunköprü hills, Bakacak, Çandır
Tepe, Süleymaniye Tepe) stay in the 350-600 m range.
Between
these modest rims lie the main agricultural basins: Tunca Plain and
Kazanova near the city, the broad Meriç and İpsala plains farther south,
and the Ergene Plain to the east. Alluvial fills along the rivers are
several meters to more than 20 m thick in places and form the province’s
most productive soils.
The city itself grew on a slight rise inside a
westward loop of the Tunca, just before that river joins the Meriç. The
loop acts as a natural moat on the northwest and west; floodplains,
islands, and Ottoman bridges occupy the low ground around it. Karaağaç,
the only Turkish district west of the Meriç at this latitude, sits
across the twin river crossings southwest of the old town.
Hydrography: three rivers and a delta
Water, not altitude, is
Edirne’s defining geographic feature.
Meriç (Maritsa / Evros)
The
principal river of the eastern Balkans. It rises in Bulgaria’s Rila
Mountains, crosses the Thracian plain, and for a long stretch forms the
Turkey-Greece border. Inside Turkey it runs about 185-204 km before
reaching the Aegean near Enez. Near Edirne it receives first the Arda,
then the Tunca. Depth varies widely (roughly 0.6-5.2 m). Spring floods
have long been a hazard; reservoirs such as Uzunköprü-Altınyazı were
built to moderate them. The Meriç also irrigates rice and other crops
and supports fisheries.
Tunca (Tundzha)
Rises in the Balkan
Mountains of Bulgaria, forms part of the Bulgaria-Turkey border, then
loops around the west side of Edirne before joining the Meriç. Length
inside the province is on the order of 50-55 km. The Tunca valley and
its alluvial plain (Tunca Ovası, Kazanova) frame the historic city and
the old palace grounds at Sarayiçi.
Arda
Comes out of the
Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria and enters Turkey at Pazarkule, only about
1 km before it meets the Meriç. Its Turkish course is very short, but
the confluence helps define the city’s western approaches.
Ergene
Drains the eastern Thracian interior from the Istranca foothills, enters
the province near Pehlivanköy / Uzunköprü, and joins the Meriç north of
İpsala. It is the main eastern tributary and a key irrigation source for
the Ergene Plain.
South of İpsala the Meriç splits toward a low delta
and lagoon complex around Enez. Natural lakes and wetlands here include
Gala, Dalyan, Taşaltı, Tuzla, and several smaller basins. Gala Lake and
its surroundings form one of the most important wetland habitats in
European Turkey. River regimes are seasonal and irregular: discharges
peak in March-April after winter rains and snowmelt in the Bulgarian
highlands, then fall sharply in late summer.
Climate
Edirne
occupies a climatic transition zone between the Mediterranean and a more
continental Balkan interior. Köppen classifications usually place it on
the border of humid subtropical (Cfa) and hot-summer Mediterranean
(Csa); Trewartha often lists it as temperate oceanic (Do). In practice
the city feels more continental than Istanbul: hotter, drier summers and
colder winters.
Typical pattern:
Winter: mean January
temperatures around 3-4 °C. Mild spells occur, but cold waves can drop
to -15 °C or lower (records near -19 to -22 °C). Snow is possible but
not persistent every year.
Summer: July-August means around 25-26 °C,
with frequent daytime highs of 32-33 °C and peaks above 40 °C. Humidity
is lower than on the Marmara coast; thunderstorms still occur.
Precipitation: roughly 580-620 mm per year, concentrated from October to
January. August is the driest month. Annual averages of temperature are
often given near 13.5-14.7 °C.
Spring (April-June) and early
autumn are the most comfortable seasons on the ground: milder air, green
fields, and fewer extremes of heat or flood.
Soils, land use, and
vegetation
Alluvial soils along the Meriç, Tunca, Arda, and Ergene
support intensive farming. Major soil groups include alluvial and
hydromorphic alluvial soils on the floodplains, brown forest soils and
lime-poor brown soils on the plateaus, and vertisols in heavier clay
basins. About 57-80 percent of provincial land is classed as
agriculturally usable, depending on the source. Staple landscapes are
sunflower fields, wheat and other cereals, rice paddies (especially
İpsala), and fodder crops. Forests and scrub cover roughly a quarter of
the province, denser on the Istranca and Koru slopes and along some
river corridors: oak, pine, juniper, hornbeam, and poplar galleries. The
open steppe-like plateaus between the rivers are the classic Thracian
farmland that travelers see from the Istanbul-Kapıkule highway.
Etymology
The city was founded by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and named Hadrianopolis (English: Adrianople, /ˌeɪdriəˈnoʊpəl/; Greek: Ἁδριανούπολις). It was previously an ancient Thracian settlement called Uskudama. Its name in the Ottoman period was derived from the Greek name Edrine (ادرنه). Written as Adrianople in English, Edirne became the new internationally accepted name after the Turkish alphabet revolution in 1928.
The first known settlers around Edirne were the Odris and Bettegeris
from the Thracian tribes. According to popular belief, an open city or
market place called Odris or Odrisia was founded by the Odriss at the
junction of the Meriç and Tunca rivers, where Edirne is located today.
Between 1400 and 1200 BC, the region was taken over by the Achaeans and
after this period, it became a "police". During the campaign of the
Achaemenid Emperor Darius I against the Scythians in the 510s BC, the
region came under Persian rule. The Odrysians, who declared their
independence under the reign of Teres I in 460 BC, became the rulers of
the region again. In 340 BC II. The settlement, which was captured by
the Macedonians under the reign of Philip, began to be known as Orestia
during this period. The region was later subjected to Celtic invasions.
Orestia, under Macedonian control, fell to the Romans in 168 BC. During
the eastern travel of the Roman Emperor Hadrian between 123-124 BC,
Orestia, whose name was changed to Hadrianapolis, was given city status.
Hadrianapolis, which remained under the control of the Byzantine Empire
after the Roman Empire was divided into two in 395, was subjected to
Goth, Hun, Pecheneg, Avar and Bulgarian attacks during this period.
The city was captured by the Bulgarian Khan Krum in 813, and with
the agreement made in 815 between the Byzantine Emperor Leon V of
Omurtag, who ascended the throne after Krum's death, thirty years of
peace was achieved between the two states, and the control of the city
was left to the Byzantine Empire.
Although the city was attacked
by Pechenegs and Cumans several times in the 1000s, it remained under
the control of the Byzantine Empire. While it was subjected to various
attacks during the Crusades, the Latins were defeated in the battle with
the Bulgarians in 1205 in the city, which came under the control of the
Latin Empire. After the collapse of the Latin Empire in 1261,
Hadrianapolis came under Bulgarian rule. According to different sources,
the city joined the Ottoman Empire in a period that varied between 1361
and 1371. The city, which changed its name to Edirne when it was
captured by the Turks and later became the capital of the Ottoman
Empire, partially lost its importance after Istanbul became the capital
in 1453, but remained one of the favorite places of the sultans and a
lively commercial and administrative center. The biggest blow to the
development of the city, which was shaken by fires and earthquakes in
the 18th century, was that the once-advantageous feature of being the
gateway to the Balkans turned into a disadvantage as the Ottoman Empire
began to decline. The city, which first experienced foreign occupation
during the Ottoman-Russian war of 1828-29, was occupied by the Russians
again in the War of 1893 (1877-1878).
According to the yearbook
dated 1892 written by Edirne Provincial Printing House Manager Şevket
Dağdeviren;
Edirne city is the center of Edirne Province, which
has 6 sanjaks, 21 districts, 97 townships, 1620 villages and a
population of 800,000, including the Edirne sanjak.
Edirne
District consists of three townships and the municipalities of Edirne
and Karaağaç. There are 85733 male and female population in 306
neighborhoods, 154 villages and 17132 houses in the district.
There are 53348 inhabitants in 10780 houses in Edirne city. In the city,
there are 157 mosques and masjids, 69 lodges and zawiyas, 35 madrasas
and libraries, 52 schools, prison, gendarmerie office, courthouse
telegraph office, sharia court, government mansion, military office, 4
military high schools, 1 civil high school, 1 male, 1 female. It has a
secondary school, a sample farm and an agricultural and industrial
school.
There are 3870 shops, 280 bakeries, 37 inns, 15 working
houses, 9 ruined baths, 134 mills, 7 flour mills, 5 printing houses, 568
rooms, 148 haylofts and warehouses, 19476 pieces of vineyards, 2315
gardens, 5228 fields, 278 meadows and 1657 plots of land. .
Apart
from these, 26 churches and monasteries, 13 synagogues, 5 barracks, 11
police stations, 239 fountains and public fountains, 5 soup kitchens, 1
reformatory, 5 hospitals, fire towers, 6 icehouses, 2 reji warehouses, 1
gas works, 15 tile and brick quarries, 87806 There are acres of arable
and uncultivable land.
In the district outside the city, 228
shops, 2 bakeries, 16 inns, 1 bath, 78 mills, 6 flour mills, 104
warehouses and haylofts, 54 farms, 6889 vineyards, 43962 fields, 131
gardens, 1230 meadows, 58 pastures, 16 forests, 448 land, 24 mosques, 2
lodges, 32 churches and monasteries, 20 brick and tile quarries, 29
fountains, 997074 decares of arable and non-arable land.
There
are 2315 well-kept vegetable, fruit and mulberry gardens around the
Meriç, Tunca and Arda rivers in Edirne. Apricots, plums, quinces,
mulberries, medlars and other fruits are abundant. There are 19476
pieces of vineyards in 37 places in Istanbul Yolu, Kıyık, Tekke Kapı,
Yeni İmaret and Yıldırım districts. 300 million kilos of wine and
4,600,000 kilos of raki are produced from grapes annually. Most of the
wine is exported to Europe.
It was occupied by the Bulgarians
during the Balkan War (1912-1913). The city, which was transferred to
Bulgaria with the peace agreement accepted after the First Balkan War,
joined Turkish territory again after the Second Balkan War, which broke
out before the ink of the agreement was even dry. Following the defeat
of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Edirne was occupied by the Greeks
in July 1920; With the successful conclusion of the War of Independence,
it finally came under Turkish sovereignty on 25 November 1922
(Liberation of Edirne). The border of the province took its current form
when Karaağaç, which was taken back from Greece as war compensation by
the Treaty of Lausanne, joined Turkey on September 15, 1923. The
Lausanne Monument, built in memory of the treaty, is in the Karaağaç
neighborhood of the district.
Social complexes
Sultan Bayezid II Complex (II. Beyazıt Külliyesi)
Standing apart on the north bank of the Tunca, this külliye was
commissioned by Bayezid II and built between 1484 and 1488, most often
attributed to the architect Hayreddin. It is more than a mosque. The
ensemble once included a hospital (darüşşifa), medical school, guest
houses (tabhane), soup kitchen (imaret), baths, and a bridge. The
hospital used music and a carefully planned acoustic layout as part of
treatment, which is why the complex is now presented as a Health Museum
with wax figures reconstructing Ottoman medical practice. The mosque
itself sits between the earlier Üç Şerefeli type and the later Selimiye
type: a large single dome over a square prayer hall, plus a courtyard
and fountain. The complex is on UNESCO’s Tentative List.
Selimiye
Complex
This is the imperial ensemble around Mimar Sinan’s late
masterpiece. Besides the mosque it includes madrasas (one of them a
darülhadis that now houses a museum of Turkish and Islamic art), a
covered market (arasta), a clock house, library, and outer courtyard.
UNESCO inscribed the mosque and its social complex as a World Heritage
Site in 2011.
Mosques, churches, and synagogues
The city’s
most important Islamic monuments are Selimiye Mosque, Üç Şerefeli
Mosque, Eski Mosque (Old Mosque), and Darülhadis Mosque.
Selimiye
Mosque is the building Sinan called his masterpiece (ustalık eseri),
finished in 1575 for Selim II when the architect was about eighty. A
single dome about 31.3 meters across rises on eight piers over a vast,
brightly lit prayer hall with hundreds of windows. Four slender
minarets, each with three balconies, frame the skyline. Interior Iznik
tiles belong to the peak of that craft. Entry is free outside prayer
times.
Üç Şerefeli Mosque (Three-Balconied Mosque), built for Murad
II between about 1437 and 1447, is the great transitional work before
classical Ottoman architecture. It introduced a large central dome on
piers, a spacious arcaded courtyard, and four minarets of different
heights and decoration. The tallest, about 67 meters, has three
balconies reached by separate staircases, which gave the mosque its
name. Local saying still ranks “the calligraphy of the Old Mosque, the
door of Üç Şerefeli, the structure of Selimiye.”
Eski Mosque (Eski
Cami / Old Mosque) is Edirne’s oldest imperial mosque. Work began under
Emir Süleyman in 1403 and finished under Mehmed I in 1414. Architect
Hacı Alaaddin of Konya and his assistant Ömer ibn Ibrahim produced a
Bursa-style square plan with nine domes. Monumental calligraphic
inscriptions cover walls inside and out; a stone near the mihrab is said
to have come from the Kaaba.
Darülhadis Mosque, completed in 1435 for
Murad II on the Tunca, began as a school of hadith and still stands with
two royal tombs on the qibla side. Sons of Murad II and later Ottoman
princes and princesses are buried there. The minaret was damaged by
artillery in the Balkan Wars.
Christian and Jewish houses of worship
survive as well, a reminder that Ottoman Edirne was multi-confessional.
The Italian Catholic Church stands in Kaleiçi.
Sv. Georgi (Saint
George) Bulgarian Church is in Kıyık; another Sv. Georgi Church is in
Kirişhane. The Kıyık church was built in 1880 with permission of
Abdülhamid II and restored and reopened in 2004.
The Bulgarian Church
of Saints Constantine and Helena, a three-nave pseudo-basilica finished
in 1869 with Macedonian and Thracian donations, was abandoned after 1913
and thoroughly restored in 2008 with Bulgarian support.
The Great
Synagogue of Edirne, in Kaleiçi, is the largest synagogue in Türkiye and
often listed as the third largest in Europe. After fire destroyed
thirteen earlier synagogues in 1905, the community built this grand
Sephardi-style hall (architect France Depré, opened 1907) for some 1,200
worshippers. After decades of ruin it was restored and reopened in 2015.
Grand bazaars
Edirne keeps three historic covered markets.
Selimiye Arastası runs along the south side of Selimiye Mosque. Davud
Ağa, a pupil of Sinan, completed it around 1589-1590 so shop rents would
endow the mosque. About 256 meters long with 73 arches and more than 120
shops, it was once the cobblers’ market (Kavaflar). A prayer dome (Dua
Kubbesi) still marks the center, where merchants traditionally began the
day with a pledge of honest trade. Today it sells sweets, souvenirs, and
crafts.
Bedesten, next to Eski Mosque, is the oldest of the three.
Mehmed I had it built around 1418 as a fortified hall for precious goods
(gold, jewelry, weapons, carpets) whose rents supported the Old Mosque.
Fourteen domes cover two inner streets and 36 merchant rooms, with more
shops on the outer walls.
Ali Paşa (Semiz Ali Pasha) Bazaar, by Mimar
Sinan in 1568-1569 for Grand Vizier Semiz Ali Pasha, is a long vaulted
street of some 200-plus shops, about 270-300 meters, with several gates
onto Saraçlar Caddesi. Evliya Çelebi compared its gates to fortress
gates. Leather goods, textiles, Edirne soap, and almond paste are
typical buys.
Edirne Palace (Saray-ı Cedid-i Amire)
The New
Palace at Sarayiçi, begun by Murad II in 1450 and expanded by Mehmed the
Conqueror, once covered a huge riverside tract with scores of pavilions,
kitchens, baths, and gates. Most of it was lost to earthquakes, wars,
and stone-robbing. What remains is still worth the walk.
The Justice
Pavilion (Adalet Kasrı / Kasr-ı Adalet), built in 1561 under Suleiman
the Magnificent, is the intact symbol of Ottoman justice on the palace
grounds. Two stone columns in front carried a cage and a sack: a warning
that the guilty would be punished and that judges who failed in duty
would meet the same fate.
Kum Pavilion Bath has been under
restoration. Matbah-ı Amire, the imperial kitchen, a long eight-domed
building, was restored and slated to become a museum after work that was
already well advanced by 2013. A larger revival of the palace, including
Babüssaade (Gate of Felicity) and Cihannüma Pavilion, has been underway
since the 2020s, with substantial completion targeted later in the
decade. The same island is also the traditional home of the Kırkpınar
oil-wrestling festival.
Handicrafts
Ottoman Edirne was a major
center of tile and ceramic production. Palace and mosque tiles in the
city belong to that local school; Muradiye Mosque is often cited for
especially fine examples.
The city’s own decorative style is called
Edirnekâri (“Edirne work”). From the fifteenth century onward, painters
applied durable floral and fruit motifs (tulips, hyacinths, carnations,
bouquets) in paint and varnish on wood, leather, and cardboard: chests,
cabinets, ceilings, bookbindings, writing boxes, and lacquer containers.
Calligraphy, especially the ta‘lik script, wood carving, and tombstone
carving belonged to the same workshop culture. Masters later carried the
style to Istanbul, Bursa, and other cities.
Two crafts still visible
in the bazaars are broom making, including the mirrored bridal broom
(aynalı süpürge) that once went into a bride’s trousseau as a sign of
diligence and beauty, and mis soap (misk sabunu). From the seventeenth
century, palace workshops scented paste soaps with musk, amber, and
rose, then molded and painted them as fruit. They were diplomatic gifts
as well as household items. Today fruit-shaped soaps are a standard
tourist craft, sold alongside Edirnekâri boxes in Ali Paşa and Selimiye
Arasta.