Bozcaada, Çanakkale
Bozcaada is an Aegean island, municipality, and district governorate in Çanakkale Province, Turkey. Geography. Bozcaada district covers the Bozcaada island and a total of 17 islets around the main island. The total area of the district (including the islets ) is . The highest point of the district is Göztepe with an altitude of . The district center is situated on the east side of the island at about . It is situated 22 km. (12 Nautical miles) south of Dardanelles Strait (Çanakkale Boğazı) Its distance to Geyikli the nearest sea port on the main land (Anatolia) is 7.5 km ( 4.5 nautical  miles). The distance from Geyikli to Çanakkale (province center) is about . Up until recently, Bozcaada was unique in Turkey as being a district with no rural population. (Because of metropolitan municipalities established after the 1980s there are now some other districts with no rural population.) Its population (all in the district center) is 3023 as of 2018. In 2012 it was 2465 and in 2010 it was 2354. History. In the antiquity the island was known as "Leukophrys" and in Greek mythology it was "Tenedos". It was mentioned in Homer's Iliad. In the medieval age it was a Byzantine  possession. Towards the end of the medieval age it was left to Republic of Venice by the emperor John V Palaiologos as a ransom. In 1381 however, following Venetian Genoese War it was evacuated by the Venetians according to the Peace of Turin. In 1455 it was annexed by the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Mehmet II. Although the Venetians tried to regain the island, in 1464 the Ottoman control was secured by Mahmut Pasha. As a result of the former evacuation, the island was uninhabited during the early years of Ottoman administration and the Ottoman Empire populated the  present Bozcaada district by using tax exemption. Ottoman Empire also restored the castle which was demolished during the Venetian-Genoese war. Turks called the island Bozcaada meaning grayish island and the famous cartographer Piri Reis of the 16th century also used this name in his maps. In 1923 when the Turkish Republic was proclaimed, the island was declared a district and the only settlement in Bozcaada became the municipality and district center of Çanakkale Province. Economy. The major economic activities of Bozcaada are tourism, wineries, and fishing, with tourism as the dominant economic sector. More than 1.5 million tourists visited  Bozccaada in 2018, driven in part by an increased presence in the global media. Places of interest. According to municipality of Bozcaada the historically important buildings are the following