Malkara

Malkara () is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,243 km2 (the largest in Tekirdağ Province), and its population is 50,988 (2022). It is located at 55 km west of Tekirdağ and 190 km from Istanbul. The mayor is Ulaş Yurdakul (CHP).

Climate
The district has cold winters, wet winds from the Balkans blow hard across Thrace.

History
Thrace was the scene of fighting during the Persian Wars and the name Malkara is said to come from the Persian 'Margaar' meaning 'cave of snakes'. Alternatively the town may be named after 'Malgar' a general in the army of Alexander the Great who built a fortress here after they had succeeded in bringing to an end the Persian 30-year occupation of Thrace. These fortifications remained in use up until the Byzantine period.

Once the area had been brought under Ottoman control it was settled with Turks from Anatolia and a Turkish town emerged which thrived supplying the Ottoman cavalry regiments. Malkara was then used as a place of exile for those out of favor in the Ottoman court including:

 Hacı Evhat – personal tutor to Suleiman the Magnificent, who exiled Evhat in 1524 when he did not like the lessons
 Koca Sinan Pasha – statesman and Grand Vizier, exiled for four years here after the failure of his campaign against Persia in 1580
 Melek Ahmed Pasha – Grand Vizier, 1650–51
 Boynuyaralı Mehmed Pasha – Grand Vizier, 1656
 Bekri Mustafa Pasha – Grand Vizier, 1688–89

The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi described Malkara as a tidy, hard-working town of 150 houses of tiled roofs noted for production of honey, cheese, and leather.

At the end of the 18th century Malkara was the scene of an uprising by the Janissary troops in protest against plans by Sultan Selim III to replace them with a new model army.

Malkara was occupied by Russian troops in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, again by the Russians in The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and most painfully by the Bulgarians for 8.5 months during the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. In the aftermath of the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, Malkara was reoccupied by Ottoman troops. 

During World War II, the Greek part of Thrace was occupied by German and Bulgarian troops, and when Turkey was preparing for a possible entry into the war against the Axis powers, refugees from Greece were briefly housed in Malkara for their safety.

Malkara today
Malkara is a small market town serving the countryside around it, which is mostly devoted to growing sunflowers for seeds and oil. There are also one or two coal mines. Many of the people of Malkara originate in the Balkans and are liberal- and secular-minded.

Composition
There are 77 neighbourhoods in Malkara District:

 Ahievren
 Ahmetpaşa
 Aksakal
 Alaybey
 Allıışık
 Bağpınarı
 Balabancık
 Ballı
 Ballısüle
 Batkın
 Bayramtepe
 Camiatik
 Çavuş Köy
 Çimendere
 Çınaraltı
 Çınarlıdere
 Danişment
 Davuteli
 Deliller
 Demircili
 Dereköy
 Deveci
 Develi
 Doğan Köy
 Dolu
 Elmalı
 Emirali
 Esendik
 Evrenbey
 Gazibey
 Gönence
 Gözsüz
 Güneşli
 Hacıevlat
 Hacısungur
 Halıç
 Hasköy
 Hemit
 Hereke
 İbribey
 İbrice
 İshakça
 Izgar
 Kadiköy
 Kalaycı
 Karacagür
 Karacahalil
 Karaiğdemir
 Karamurat
 Kavakçeşme
 Kermeyan
 Kiremitlik
 Kırıkali
 Kozyürük
 Küçükhıdır
 Kürtüllü
 Kuyucu
 Mestanlar
 Müstecep
 Pirinççeşme
 Sağlamtaş
 Şahin
 Sarıpolat
 Sarıyar
 Sarnıçköy
 Sırtbey
 Tekke Köy
 Teteköy
 Vakıfiğdemir
 Yayla Köy
 Yaylagöne
 Yeni
 Yenice
 Yenidibek
 Yılanlı
 Yörücek
 Yörük

Places of interest
The village of Yenidibek with its reservoir and ruined Byzantine castle is a popular picnic spot.

References

 
Populated places in Tekirdağ Province
Former Greek towns in Turkey
Districts of Tekirdağ Province
Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey