Hayrabolu is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, Turkey.[2] Its area is 1,009 km2,[3] and its population is 30,521 (2022).[1] As of 2023 the mayor is Osman İnan of the AKP.[4]
In the 11th century, a bishop Michael is known through his seal; from the decoration it appears that he may have previously been a member of the clergy of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.[6] The town is mentioned in the later 11th century as the site of military operations against invading nomadic tribes: the general Nikephoros Bryennios campaigned against the Pechenegs in 1051; in 1087 the town itself was sacked by a host of Pechenegs, Cumans, and Magyars; and in 1090 the Pechenegs defeated a Byzantine force in its vicinity.[6]
On 15/16 April 1205 Geoffrey of Villehardouin spent the night there, after the disastrous Battle of Adrianople.[5][6] In the aftermath of the battle, Chariopolis and other nearby towns were conquered by the Bulgarians under Tsar Kaloyan; a large part of the population was forcibly deported and resettled along the Danube.[6]
In the later 1350s, the Ottoman expansion into Thrace began, under the prince Süleyman Pasha. After Kantakouzenos' abdication in 1354, Süleyman conquered many cities "up to Chariopolis", establishing the first Ottoman province on European soil. If Chariopolis was not conquered in this first wave, then it definitely fell to Süleyman between 1359 and 1362.[10] As a result of the Ottoman conquest, by the end of the 14th century, the bishopric became a titular see, and vanishes completely in the 15th century.[10] The Catholic Church still lists Chariopolis as a titular see,[11] with eight incumbents between 1713 and 1970.[12]
The traveller Evliya Çelebi visited the town in the mid-17th century, describing it as prosperous, a "little Edirne", with much water and beautiful gardens. According to Evliya it was a favoured residence of Ottoman aristocrats. He also reports that the town was a centre of extensive animal husbandry, with large flocks, including camels.[10]
Today Hayrabolu is a small market town serving the countryside around it.
Monuments
No Byzantine-era structures survive, but in the early 20th century a local church, dedicated to St. Basil, may have been built on the site of a Byzantine predecessor, and a Byzantine capital was incorporated into the Local Pasha Mosque.[10] At the entrance to the settlement is a 16th-century Ottoman bridge.[10]
