Marmara Ereğlisi

Marmara Ereğlisi is a town and district of Tekirdağ Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Uyan (CHP).

Facts

Ereğli is 30 km east of the town of Tekirdağ, and 90 km west of Istanbul near a small pointed headland on the north shore of the Marmara Sea. It is called Marmara Ereğlisi (or Marmara Ereğli in colloquial usage) to distinguish it from the two other large towns in Turkey with the name Ereğli (deriving from the Greek name Heraclea), one in Konya Province (Konya Ereğlisi), the other on the Black Sea coast (Karadeniz Ereğli).

History

The town, originally a Samian colony, was founded as Perinthos (Πέρινθος), in English usually known by its Latinized form as Perinthus. In about 400 BC, it was given the name of Heraclea (Ἡράκλεια). It was built amphitheatre-like on the hillside of a cape extending into the Sea of Marmara, close to where the modern town stands. Its port and its happy situation at the junction of several great sea-routes, made it a town of commercial importance. It became famous because of its resistance to Philip II of Macedon. Many of its coins have come down to us, and give us information concerning the festivals held there.