Ipsala is a district in the Thrace part of the Marmara Region, connected to Edirne, with a surface area of 753 km². According to the records of 2022, the population of the district is 26,150.
It is surrounded by the Meriç River, which is the border with Greece in the northwest, Uzunköprü district in the northeast, Keşan district in the east and south, and Enez district in the southwest. The distance from the city center to Edirne is 108 km.
Ipsala, located in the southwest of Edirne, shows a natural structure consisting of undulating plains, rough with low hills. The northern and eastern parts are covered by elevations varying between 100-300 meters, and the western part is covered by the İpsala Plain, which forms a part of the lower Meriç plain.
The Ipsala Border Gate is located on the Greek border border, opposite the Kip customs of Greece. It is the only customs gate between Greece and Turkey where both passenger and commercial vehicle entry and exit transactions are made at the same time. It provides 24-hour service with a four-group shift system.
It is known that the name Ipsala is generally derived from Kypsela. According to Evliya Çelebi's narration, it was called İpsala because the army of Süleyman Pasha had the first sala read here to perform the Friday prayer.
According to the investigations of Captain Osman Bey, one of the frontier commanders, since this country is the land of honey and bees, the Greeks called it Kipsala, which means Arıyeri, and this word was translated to İpsala after the Ottoman rule.
Although it is not known how old the existence of Ipsala goes, it is seen that the dating of the settlements, which reveal important traces of the cultural development processes in the region, in the light of the finds in and around Ipsala, exceeds 8000 years. Ortataş Tepe, within the borders of Ipsala, stands out as the earliest religious monument and perhaps one of the most important cult areas of Thrace. The finds found on Ortataş Tepe not only show a very ancient human use, but also make a very early historical opening with the chalcolithic pottery finds.
During the Great Colonization Period, the colonies established in Thrace by the Ionia and Aiolis regions in Western Anatolia and the Megara city-state in Central Greece developed over time and reached the status of large city-states. Among these city-states was Ipsala.
After the 7th century BC, there was a Greek colonization in Thrace, especially in the coastal areas, but the dominance of the native Thracian tribes in the interior regions showed itself very strongly. Ipsala is an ancient Thracian city as mentioned in Ptolemy and Plinius. Coins minted in the 4th century BC have been found. One of the largest and most important Thracian cities, Ipsala was the capital at the time of the Odrisian Kingdom. All of the Odris had places from Meriç and İpsala to Odessos-Varna.
We always see Ipsala in the wars between the tribes known as the Kaenites and the Odris in the later processes, in the fights with the Romans in the Macedonian wars. In fact, in one of these wars, an Athenian general named Kales, who fought on behalf of the Thracians, destroyed the Macedonian armies in front of Ipsala (Beksaç, 2012, pp. 107-109).
While Ipsala was under the rule of the Macedonians, the powerful Seleucid King II. Antiochus Theos crossed into Thrace and attacked Ipsala. Macedonian King Philip V, during his expansionist attempts, organized an expedition to Enez and Gallipoli with Ipsala.
As a result of the Romans defeating the Seleucids in 188 BC, Thracian warriors raided the army in Ipsala while returning from the Anatolian campaign. The Roman general Sulla, who fought with the Thracians in the 80s BC, also came to Ipsala, which was in the hands of the Thracian Chief Sadalas.
In 27 BC, the Roman Emperor Augustus established the Ipsala-Enez line with Macedonia and left the region to the Thracians, who formed an autonomous administration under Rome. As a result of long-lasting uprisings and turmoil, the region in which all of Thrace is located was taken under control by the Roman Emperor Claudius in 46 AD, officially as Roman territory, under the name "Provincia Thracia". After this date, the whole region lived a quiet life until the 3rd century. It is known that Ipsala was a Metropolitan as of the 10th century AD, and this shows the importance of Ipsala.
Among those who visited Ipsala is the Eastern Roman Emperor Alexios Komnenos. It is known that he came to Ipsala in 1090 during his war against the Pechenegs.
Ipsala District, which was taken by Gazi Evrenos Bey, one of the commanders of Murat I, in 1356, has an important place in Ottoman history. Horses were raised for the Ottoman Army on today's paddy fields, which were meadows at that time. Herds of good-breed mares and horny stallions used to roam on these grasses with them, summer and winter.
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