History of Gallipoli
Gallipoli (Gelibolu), once known as Kallipolis, meaning "the good and beautiful city," first appears in history as a place of importance after the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1200 BC, during the migrations of the Phrygians and later the Lydians into Anatolia. In 545 BC, when the Lydian king Croesus was defeated in his war with the Persians, the Persians brought the Lydian kingdom to an end and thereby gained dominance around the Dardanelles. Gallipoli later came under the rule of the Spartans, Macedonians, Pergamenes, Romans, Byzantines and, finally, the Turks.
Throughout history the Gallipoli Peninsula has been a route for many peoples, and fortifications were therefore built at its strategic points. The town on its present site first rose to prominence as a fortress during the Roman period. Under Byzantine rule it was attacked first by the Goths and then by the Huns. Over time the fortress grew into an important port and trading centre. The region was also affected by the Arab armies' campaigns against Constantinople. The Crusaders passed through here on their way to Anatolia, and in 1204 Gallipoli came under Latin rule.
In the final period of Byzantium, the Turkmen beyliks that had become active along the Aegean and Marmara coasts also set their sights on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Ottoman forces under Süleyman Paşa, son of Orhan Bey, later arrived on the peninsula as allies of Emperor Kantakuzenos, and Süleyman Paşa was given Çimbi Castle as a base. This became a foothold for the Ottomans. Acting increasingly independently, Süleyman Paşa launched raids towards Thrace on one side and towards Gallipoli on the other, and the town was conquered in 1354. Under Ottoman rule Gallipoli became a key base for campaigns into Thrace and the Balkans, gaining importance as a crossing point and naval base for the Ottoman armies. It remained an important military naval base until the conquest of Istanbul, was heavily fortified under Mehmed the Conqueror (Fatih), and gradually began to lose its role as a naval base after the Golden Horn (Haliç) shipyard in Istanbul came into service in 1515.
After the conquest, Gallipoli became a sanjak (district) and sanjak capital, as well as the first Paşa sanjak of Rumelia. It later won renown as a centre of naval administration, and the Kaptan-ı Derya (Grand Admiral) at the head of the Ottoman fleet made it his headquarters. Of the 26 buildings constructed in Gallipoli during the reign of Murad II, only 7 have survived to the present day, and most of the structures from the Fatih era have also been lost. In 1915, during the Gallipoli Campaign, the town was bombarded and damaged in places. It was then occupied by the Greeks on 4 August 1920 but was evacuated on 3 October 1922. In the early years of the Republic, Gallipoli became a provincial capital (1923), a status it kept until 1926, when it became a district centre.
