Geography of Edirne
Edirne (formerly Adrianople), Turkey, the capital of a province by the same name in European Turkey and the former capital of the Ottoman Empire. Edirne was founded about 125 A.D. by the Roman emperor Hadrian on the site of the ancient Greek city of Uskadama and was named Hadrianopolis. It became a strategic crossroads between Europe and Asia. Beginning in the fourth century, Adrianople, as it was then called, was conquered in turn by the Visigoths, Avars, Bulgarians, and Crusaders. It was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1365 and was their capital from 1366 to 1453. After World War I, it was ceded by Turkey to Greece but was returned in 1923.
Population: 402,606.