About Tekirdag's History

Tekirdağ was called Bisanthi or Bysanthe and also Rodosto (Ρωδόστο) or Rhaedestus (Ραιδεστός in Greek) in classical antiquity. The latter name was used till the Byzantine era, transformed to Rodosçuk after it fell to the Ottomans in the 14th century. After the 18th century it was called Tekfurdağı, sometimes said to be based on the Turkish wordtekfur, meaning "Byzantine feudal lord" – though this etymology has been challenged. In time, the name mutated into the Turkish Tekirdağ, and this became the official name under the Turkish Republic. The historical name "Rhaedestos" (transcribed also as Raidestos) was continuously used till today in Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical context (e.g. Bishop of Raidestos,Metropolitanate of Heraclia and Raidestos (18th-19th centuries).

The history of the city of Tekirdağ dates back to around 4000 BC.[7] The ancient Greek city of Rodosto is said to have been founded by Samians. In Xenophon’s Anabasis it is mentioned to be a part of the kingdom of the Thracian prince Seuthes. It is also mentioned as Bisanthe by Herodotus (VII, 137).Its restoration by Justinian I in the 6th century AD is chronicled by Procopius. In 813 and again in 1206 it was sacked by the Bulgarians after the Battle of Rodosto, but it continued to appear as a place of considerable note in later Byzantine history. It was also ruled by Venetians between 1204-1235. The 11th-century Byzantine historian Michael Attaleiatesowned property in Raidestos which he describes in his will.

In the Ottoman period the city was successively a part of the vilayet (province) of Rumelia, Kaptanpaşa (centered at Gelibolu), Silistre and Edirne.

In 1905, the city had a population of about 35,000; of whom half were Greeks[8] who were exchanged with Muslims living in Greece under the 1923 agreement for Exchange of Greek Orthodox and Muslim Populations between the two countries.

Tekirdağ was for many years a depot for the produce of the Edirne province, but its trade suffered when Alexandroupolis became the terminus of the railway up the river Maritsa.