HISTORY OF ÇANAKKALE
Known as HELLESPONTOS and DARDANEL in ancient times, Çanakkale has been a settlement area since 3000 BC. Çanakkale, which has been an important settlement center since the Early Bronze Age, is one of the two gateway regions that provide the connection between Anatolia and Europe and between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea thanks to the Dardanelles. It has a very rich history due to this feature.
It provided economic and military superiority to the communities living in the region and they surpassed their contemporaries in the field of civilization. However, this situation made the region the target of various migration and invasion movements. At different dates, people came to the region to settle or to plunder, and in both cases intensified certain cultural exchanges. This cultural kneading continued with interruptions for centuries, resulting in a very colorful cultural mosaic. In the narrowest part of the Bosphorus, during the reign of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, fortresses called Kilitbahir around Sestos on the Rumeli side and Kale-i Sultaniye or Çanak Castle around Abydos on the Anatolian side were built. The name of today's Çanakkale Province comes from the Çanak Castle on the Anatolian side.
The oldest inhabitants of the region are the indigenous people of the Chalcolithic Period known from Beşiktepe and Kumtepe settlements. These are followed by the Trojan people, who continued their lives without any external influence from 3000 BC to 1200 BC. After this, the Achaeans came with the Trojan Wars and various tribes came with the Aegean migrations. Finally, after the death of Sicilian Commander Roger De Flor, the Catalonians under his command continued their activities for a while, but then they left Çanakkale and its region to the Turkish Beys in accordance with an agreement with the Turks.
L Troia, founded in 3000 BC, was destroyed by an earthquake in 2500 BC. It is known that there were old settlements in the region before this. It is thought that the city of Dardanos was founded before Troy I. The establishment priority is about 100-150 years. With the migration of “sea tribes” from the north in 1200 BC, a dark period in terms of written history began in the region and Anatolia. The region came under the sovereignty of the Lydian Kingdom, which became a great power in Western Anatolia in the 7th century BC, with the arrival of the Persians in the 5th century BC, the Persian influence began to increase, and with the “King's Peace” made between the Persians and Spartans in 386 BC, Persian sovereignty was definitely established in the region. In 334 BC, the Persian domination in Anatolia began to decline after the Macedonian King Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army near the Biga Stream (Granikos). After Alexander's death, Alexander's commanders struggled for power in the region. After the rule of the Kingdom of Pergamon and the period of Galatian invasions, the dictator Sulla came to Gallipoli during the efforts of Rome to establish dominance in the region. The region also gained importance with its harbors during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The Ottomans' desire to establish sovereignty in the Mediterranean led them to start their conquests in the Balkan Peninsula from Gallipoli and its region. With the establishment of a shipyard in Gallipoli, Ottoman sovereignty in the Dardanelles further increased.
The importance of the strait came to the fore once again during the Dardanelles Wars (World War I) and the enemy navy was defeated on March 18, 1915.
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