Çorlu

Çorlu (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Turkish: [ˈtʃoɾɫu] ⓘ) is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, northwestern Turkey.[4] Its area is 531 km2,[5] and its population is 290,155 (2022).[3] It is a rapidly growing industrial center built on flatland located on the motorway Otoyol 3 and off the highway D.100 between Istanbul and Turkey's border with Greece and Bulgaria. The nearest airport is Tekirdağ-Çorlu Airport (TEQ). It is the most populated city in Turkey entirely in Europe. Bronze Age relics have been found in various areas of Thrace including Çorlu and by 1000 BC the area was a Phrygian-Greek colony. The area was subsequently controlled by the Greeks, Persians, Romans and Byzantines. During Roman and Byzantine times, the town was referred to as Tzouroulos,[6] or Syrallo.[7] The spelling "Zorolus" is used for the Latinised form of the name of the episcopal see identified with present-day Çorlu in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.[8] Some writers have identified the Roman town of Caenophrurium (the stronghold of the Caeni and the place where Emperor Aurelian was murdered in 275) with Çorlu, but this seems unlikely as the Antonine Itinerary lists Cenofrurium as two stages and 36 Roman miles (53 kilometre) closer to Byzantium than Tzirallum, and the Tabula Peutingeriana shows the locations separately.[7][9] There were important Roman and Byzantine fortifications at Caenophrurium, which was a base for controlling large areas of Thrace.