title: Malkara
text: 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