The European side of Çanakkale;

The Gallipoli Peninsula

The Gallipoli Peninsula is a historically significant region where the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 took place. However, as this will be covered in a separate chapter of the book, here we will talk about the other aspects of the peninsula.


The province of Çanakkale has towns and villages both on the European and Asian continents. Those who want to get to the European side directly can come through Edirne and İstanbul without going to the Çanakkale city centre. Those who travel from İstanbul can take the Tekirdağ-Keşan or the Tekirdağ-Şarköy road. However, while the latter is shorter the highway from Keşan is better.
The Historical National Park and the Gallipoli Campaign will be covered in another section. However, the battles of 1915 took place on both the Asian and European sides of the Dardanelles, though the majority of the fighting was in the European part of the province.
But let us look at Çanakkale in Europe meaning the Gallipoli Peninsula without touching on the war. When coming from this direction you enter Çanakkale from Bolayır, at the head of the peninsula.

Eceabat
The town of Eceabat on the peninsula lies opposite the Çanakkale city centre and is the busiest point enabling the passage between the continents of Asia and Europe via the Strait, with large car ferries running hourly day and night. The first settlement in what is now Eceabat was founded by the Thracians, a Balkan people. Later the settlement became known as Madytos and later as Maydos and received migrants coming from Foça (Phokai), Miletos and Midilli Island (Lesbos). The geographer Strabo writes that the town was founded by Phoenicians.
When you look at the town from the sea, the Ottomans fortresses along the shore of the Strait, erected to maintain control of the Dardanelles, provide an impressive view.

Sestos Castle
The ancient city and castle of Sestos, famed for the legend of Hero and Leander, was sited on the shores of the Dardanelles, some four kilometres from the village of Yalova. Standing above and to the south of Akbaş Bay, there is now little to be seen of the ancient site as the stones from the city were used by the Ottomans to build the castles of Bigalı and Kilitbahir.

Bigalı Castle
This fortress in five kilometres to the north of Eceabat up the peninsula. Work on the fortification, which was not a real castle but a artillery emplacement and associated buildings, began in 1807, with the stones of Sestos quarried to provide construction material.

Kilitbahir Castle
This castle, whose name means Lock of the Sea and is a masterpiece of Ottoman fortress construction, was built by Sultan Fatih the Conqueror in 1452. Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent later added a gate tower and strengthened and extended the walls. A unique design, with the three inner courtyards of the castle being in a clover leaf shape, the central keep was well protected by high outer walls. Much of the inner castle was constructed using stones taken from the site of the ancient city of Sestos. Parts of the Kilitbahir castle have recently been restored.

On the crossroads
If coming from Thrace Eceabat is the crossing point to the Anatolian side of the Strait to Çanakkale. However, if intending to travel to Gökçeada (Imbros), Turkey's largest island, one turns off the highway just before reaching Eceabat and following the road to Kabatepe, where a ferry runs to the island.
Next to the ferry terminal, beyond the large breakwater to the left, there is a beautiful cove with a wonderful sandy beach. As elsewhere in the region, above the shore there are forests of pine trees. There is a camping site, cafes and other facilities around the beach, operated by the National Park Authority.

Gelibolu
This old seaside town was once known as Gallipoli, as it still is in English and the town gave its name to both the peninsula and the campaign of 1915. However, for Turks, the Gallipoli Campaign is known as the Çanakkale War. From the wharf in the centre of the town, ferries run across the Dardanelles to Lapseki on the Asian shore.
There is a fishermen's port and many fishing boats based in Gelibolu. The stone port has only a narrow entrance to the sea and is also crossed by a bridge. Both around the port and in the many restaurants nearby there are always fresh fish to be had. Gelibolu is also well known for the quality of its tinned fish, in particular sardines. Samples can be bought from shops in the vicinity of the wharf.
This small town, because of its location at the southern mouth of the Strait and its sheltered position, was important in both Byzantine and Ottoman times.
The fortress ruin right on the seaside is a private museum. This small museum is named after Piri Reis, the Ottoman naval officer who drew the first map in the world, and has a small collection on display. Having been set up with an amateur spirit and being inside the fortress makes for a cute museum. The fortress dates from the ancient times but underwent many restorations over the centuries. The grave of Piri Reis is also in Gelibolu.
The exhibits in the museum are many and varied, from newspaper cuttings to Byzantine cups, Ottoman headstones, weapons and coins to archaeological findings.

Turk-Islam works
Gelibolu is rich in respect of Turkish and Islam works. Near to the Astsubay Orduevi (Non-Commissioned Officers House) there is the grave of Bayraklı (Flag) Dede who was the standard bearer for Süleyman Pasha (see Bolayır). From the 14th century onward people came to visit his grave and to hang flags on it. This is why he is known as "Bayrakl_ Dede" (Dede means a religious figure).
The mosque known as the Süleyman Pasha or Büyük Cami was built in 1358. It was repaired in 1676 and 1889. It has a rectangular plan, stone walls and three entrance doors. There are many türbes (tombs) such as that of Bayraklı Dede. The main ones are those of Ahmet Bican, Mehmet Bican, Hallacı Mansur, Kalafat Mehmed Pasha, Emir Ali Pasha and his son in law Sinan Pasha.
The Gelibolu Mevlevihanesi is especially worth seeing, having been built in 1656 by the followers of the symbol of tolerance in sufism, the Mevlana. The restoration work on this impressive building will be completed by the end of 2004. This building, which is located in the grounds of the Military Hospital is the largest second Tekke (Dervish lodge) in Turkey. It had supplementary buildings that have not survived. It used to host 80 poor people with its school, han and refectory.
The area where the Dervish sema ceremony (the whirling dance of the Dervishes) is at times performed can cater to 1000 spectators.

Bolayır and the Gulf of Saros
Once you cross the border of the province of Çanakkale you immediately get to see the traces of war, with concrete bunkers sited in fields on both sides of the highway from Keşan as it descends to the Gulf of Saros. However, these date from the time of World War Two and never saw action.
Here we are passing through the narrowest points on the peninsula. If we head towards the sea at the Gulf of Saros, a very short road takes us to the where there are numerous summerhouses and the seaside settlements of Baklaburun or Yıldızkoyu.
For a detour, you can turn left from the main road and travel for two kilometres to the small town of Bolay_r. Bolay_r is a small and closed town and has a very quiet atmosphere and is very orderly. 
The town's main attraction is its cemetery. At the entrance of the tree covered cemetery there is a white marble monument marking the grave of the famed Turkish poet Namık Kemal, known in Turkey as the Country Poet, who lived a very full life in his 48 years.
Towards the edge of the cemetery there is the türbe (tomb) of Süleyman Pasha. In 1356, Süleyman, the son of the sultan, was the first Ottoman commander to cross the Dardanelles and enter Europe, opening the way for the Turkish conquest of the region and beyond.
There are three graves in the türbe. One belongs to Süleyman Pasha himself, one to his tutor and the other being that of his horse, from which he fell and was killed while hunting. The ancient relics uncovered at Bolayır are on display in the Çanakkale Museum.