Edirne

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Edirne (Adrianople) Fortified city at the confluence of the Meric and Tundzha rivers. Rebuilt by the Roman emperor Hadrian (c.ad 125) as Adrianopolis, it was the scene of a Roman defeat by the Visigoths in 378. Edirne was capital of Ottoman Turkey from 1361–1453. Captured by the Russians in 1829–79 and the Bulgarians in 1913, Edirne was ceded to Greece in 1920. It was returned to Turkey in 1923. It is an agricultural trading centre. Industries: textiles and tanning. Pop. (1990) 102,300.

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