Zeytinbağı

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Zeytinbağı
Location in Turkey

Overview
Province	Bursa Province
Coordinates	NA
Postal code	16x xx
Area code	0224
Licence plate code	16
Website	[1]

Zeytinbağı (also Triglia or Trilye) is a town of Bursa Province, Mudanya, Turkey, on the Gulf of Mudania, part of the south coast of the Sea of Marmara.Situated 12 km. west of Mudanya, Trilye(Triglia) is quaint township along the Marmara Sea shoreline. The most important historical structure in Trilye(Triglia) is that of the Byzantine Aya Todori Church, known today Fatih Mosque. Mudanya, residential and commercial development in this township is under the conservation of the state. With its clean air, sea, fish, tranquility, Trilye is an ideal vacation town.

The stone school building, which is called "Taş Mektep" and which has been quite destroyed, was built as a monastery in early 1900s. In addition, former Cyprus president Archbishop Makarios was among the graduates. Before the War of Independence, it was an orphanage, and since then it has been used for educational courses. The building now belongs to Bursa Uludağ University and is under restoration.

This small town where only 2500 people live is a very peaceful place with great history. In the town you can visit ruins of very old Byzantine churches if you are interested in. Or you may simply wander in the streets (there are not many of them, it is a very very small town) and see old Greek houses built at the end of 19.th century. This town is under protection by the Ministry of Culture so no body can destroy the old houses or rebuild them in a different style than the original one. By the sea there are nice fish restaurants. You can have your meal in one of them. The place is famous for its olives. Actually, Zeytingbagi means olive yard and you can taste nice olives and olive oil in the town.

[edit] Tirilye History

The area has been host to various civilizations since antiquity. Tirilye is the original village. Although the name of the village has been changed to Zeytinbağı (Olive Orchard), it is still called Tirilye.

There are several legends about the origins of the name. One is that the area was famous for red mullet and red gurnard and that those fish were the main course of the Byzantine emperors' tables. "Trigleia"(Triglia lucerna) is a word in Hellenic Greek for such fish.

In another story, the priests Aya Yorgi, Aya Satri and Aya Yani were in disagreement with the archbishop during the Consul of Nicaea (İznik Consul) in the 4th century. As a result of this, these priests were excommunicated and settled here. "Tri" means three -(üç), and "İlya" means priest -(papaz).

The last legend comes from the Geneose. Three inhabitants of the village were distressed by the looting of pirates. Therefore, they combined their power and decided to live together. The name Tirilye is said to be derived from those three villagers: "Tri" meaning three (üç).

Before the Ottomans, the area was a residential area for Anatolian Greeks. Even after the Ottoman Empire absorbed the area, the Christian community continued to live there as before. Although some Muslims from several areas in Anatolia had settled here the Christian population continued to be the majority. As a result of the population exchange after the War of Independence, the Greeks migrated to Greece and Muslim immigrants from Salonica (Thessaloniki) settled in Tirilye.

	Districts of Bursa
Bursa Metropolitan Districts: Nilüfer \| Osmangazi \| Yıldırım External Districts: Büyükorhan \| Gemlik \| Gürsu \| Harmancık \| İnegöl \| İznik \| Karacabey \| Keles \| Kestel \| Mudanya \| Mustafakemalpaşa \| Orhaneli \| Orhangazi \| Yenişehir