Northwest
Sarayiçi
Upon crossing a long bridge over the Tundzha, you will arrive on an island surrounded by two branches of the Tundzha though not immediately recognizable as such while you are actually on it. A modern stadium in which annual wrestling competitions take place, surrounded by some statues of champions of past years will welcome you to this island. Just next to it is the Justice Tower Adalet Kasrı, a sturdy square tower and the sole completely intact remnant of former imperial palace of Ottomans here. Next to the Tower, a smaller bridge on the narrower branch of the river surrounded by some centuries-old ash trees will take you back to the âmainlandâ. Here at your right, about 100 metres away, is the monument to the soldiers fallen at the Siege of Edirne in 1913 Monument to the Martyrs of Balkan War/Balkan SavaÅı ÅehitliÄi. The monument itself, which is a recent construction with an older one hidden behind the bushes nearby, is nothing very interesting, typical of many such Turkish monuments built to commemorate World War I and previous battles in, say, Gallipoli. However the site is actually mass grave of an estimated 30,000 soldiers, so appropriate respect should be shown. Further away from the river is the ruins of a number of buildings of the former palace scattered around the fields, which had the unfortunate service as an arsenal during the siege of 1913, and had been blown up in order not to fall in hands of Bulgarians, the opposite side of the battle. Although the place had lost the distinction of being a capital in 15th century, it was still the favourite summer retreat of Ottoman dynasty, featuring numerous hunting manors on the edges of the actual palace. Ruins are now undergoing a slow restoration or perhaps reconstruction, with the imperial kitchen has returned to its pre-1913 appearance recently. An illustration in front of the gate of the palace building—the only part of the building that escaped the blast—may help you envisage what the palace looked like.
Across the Tundzha from downtown, in the northwestern outskirts of the city lie Sarayiçi, literally âinside the palaceâ and Yeniimaret. Both are linked to city centre by their respective medieval bridges.
Most of the monuments around this section of the city were actually located in cityâs suburbs, however the depopulation of the city resulted much of them now lying in the middle of open fields.
South of Sarayiçi is the neighbourhood of Yeniimaret, which, like Sarayiçi, is connected to the downtown by two bridges with an island on the Tundzha inbetween and is where the Medical Museum is located.
The sights in Edirne can be roughly grouped into those that are in downtown, those in northwestern neighbourhoods Sarayiçi, and Yeniimaret across the Tundzha River, and those in southwestern neighbourhood KaraaÄaç across the Tundzha and the Maritsa Rivers. A good number of medieval bridges span these rivers.
downtown
Main sights in downtown are quite close to the main square and to each other, and can be hastily done in half a day.
southwest
Southwest of downtown is the quarter of KaraaÄaç pronounced kaa raa aa ach, the only Turkish territory west of Maritsa River, which forms most of Turkish-Greek land border.
Two Ottoman bridges connect KaraaÄaç to downtown, which are well worth a look—pick these if you donât have time to check out any other bridge around the city. The first and shorter one, just southwest of the edge of old quarter Kaleiçi and actually quite close to the Synagogue at the end of Maarif Caddesi, spans the Tundzha. About 250 mt further, youâll arrive at the second one, which spans the Maritsa and is gloriously longer than the first one, as the riverbed is gloriously larger, not much unlike that of Danube. Right at the midpoint of the bridge, there is a lookout in typical Ottoman style.
A two-and-a-half-kilometre long cobbled road through a lush forest links the Maritsa Bridge with KaraaÄaç. On the way, there is an urban forest named SöÄütlük admission 2 TL pp, a favourite weekend picnic spot of locals which extends along the bank of river.
KaraaÄaç has an atmosphere more of a town rather than a city neighbourhood, with some charming mansions scattered around its grid plan. At the southwestern end of KaraaÄaç is the historical building in late Ottoman style of the Presidency of Trakya University Trakya Ãniversitesi RektörlüÄü, placed in a pleasant garden free admission. The building, which dates back to the final years of 19th century, was originally built as the main train station of the city as the steam locomotive at the backyard still attests, and had that service for years until 1970s when it was abandoned after a new railway straight to the city was laid, due to the increasingly inconvenient operation of former railtracks crisscrossing Turkish-Greek border as the relations between two nations detoriate. The university took over in 1998. At the side of the building is Lausanne Monument Lozan Anıtı, a metallic structure of three columns symbolizing Turkey the longest one symbolizes Asian Turkey, the middle-sized symbolizes Eastern Thrace (European Turkey, while the shortest symbolizes KaraaÄaç itself, being the only Turkish soil west of Maritsa River, in other words west of Eastern Thrace) with a lady in the middle holding a sheet of paper, presumably symbolizing Treaty of Lausanne, in which major western powers recognized newly founded Turkish Republic in 1923. Behind the monument, in the shades of a pine woods is an open air sculpture exhibition free admission which contains marble statues chipped in situ by sculptors from neighbouring countries.