Tekirdağ

Tekirdağ (tĕkēr'dä), city (1990 pop. 80,207), capital of Tekirdağ prov., NW Turkey, on the Sea of Marmara. It is a small port and an agricultural trade center. It was known in ancient times as Bisanthe and as Rhaedestus and later as Rodosto. Founded by Greek colonists from Sámos, it later became an important city of the Thracian kingdom. It was conquered by the Ottoman Turks c.1360. The name was officially changed to Tekirdağ in 1923.