Old quarter

Edirne, Turkey

Locally named Kaleiçi, i.e. "walled city", this is the oldest part of the city although the city walls and gates have vanished a long time ago. Built in a grid plan after it suffered from a big fire in late 19th century, the main artery of this part is Maarif Caddesi, which lies two blocks west of Saraçlar Caddesi. Along the side streets and Maarif itself line a number of elaborate wooden houses, the walls of which are with highly delicate handwork, though some are derelict. At one end of the street is the Grand Synagogue.. As Edirne was one of the main destinations of Jewish settlement in the Ottoman Empire after the Spanish expulsion of 1492, the synagogue, built in 1907 after the great fire, is the largest in Turkey and all of the Balkans, and the third largest in Europe. Having lacked a congregation since the 1980s as more and more of the local Jews left for larger cities of the country and for Israel, it stayed in a heavily ruined state since then, until 2015 when it was restored with a colourful look inside out and re-opened with a service. In one of the side alleys of Kaleiçi lies a small stone church, used to be where the Catholic community of the city held masses, though a part of a local primary school (İstiklal İlköğretim Okulu) nowadays. Numerous small Ottoman mosques are also scattered around Kaleiçi and elsewhere in downtown.