Lausanne Monument and Museum
The Lausanne Monument, which is said to have been seen even by Greece, is one of the places to be seen in Karaağaç. The Gendarmerie Martyrs’ Memorial is located on the Karaağaç road, just after the Söğütlük, is also quite interesting. Another place to visit on the Karaağaç road is the Gendarmerie Cemetery. The Karaağaç houses, which stand out with their aesthetic appearance, will add a different flavor to your trip.
Old train station Photo © edirneden.com
Lausanne Monument and Museum
After the Trakya University Rectorate was moved to Karaağaç, the University Rector at the time, Prof. Dr. Osman İnci, requested that a monument and a museum be opened in Karaağaç, one of the symbols of Lausanne. The most appropriate choice for the monument was the Edirne Train Station land in Karaağaç, which was included in the university campus. The monument to be located here would be proof of the Lausanne Victory and the museum would be proof of the documentary explanation of this victory. As a result of the decision taken in 1996, the project design and work team consisting of 14 people including representatives of Trakya University and İnönü Foundation held its first meeting on 14.02.1997 in 1998 and started working rapidly. The project design work team completed the project and brought it to the construction stage by studying many issues such as the design of the monument, application to the selected location, landscaping, lighting, materials to be used, etc. in their work that lasted approximately 15 months. As a result of these intensive project works that lasted 15 months, the foundation of the monument was laid on 29 March 1998 and the Lausanne Monument was completed in 1998 and opened by President Süleyman Demirel on 19 July.
The monument consists of columns that are independent of each other and sit on 3 consoles determined at a 45 degree angle. The height of the first column is 36.45 meters and symbolizes Anatolia, the height of the second column is 31.95 meters and symbolizes Thrace, and the height of the third column is 17.45 meters and symbolizes Karaağaç. The concrete circle connecting these columns at a height of 7.20 meters is the symbol of unity and togetherness, and the 4.20-meter-tall young girl figure placed on the front of this circle represents aesthetics, elegance and law. The dove in one hand of the young girl figure is the symbol of peace and democracy, while the document in the other hand is the symbol of the Treaty of Lausanne. The semicircular pool with a radius of 15 meters, where the feet of the monument are placed, represents the seas surrounding our country.
The Lausanne Museum, located just across the Lausanne Square, is organized in one of the annexes of the old station. The Lausanne Museum, consisting of the museum building, the director’s office and three exhibition halls, exhibits historical documents, books, special items and caricatures belonging to the Treaty of Lausanne, especially those provided by the İnönü Foundation and the Turkish History Foundation, belonging to the Second President İsmet İnönü, the chief architect of the treaty. The Lausanne Museum is open to visitors between 8.30 and 17.30 on working days.
Karaağaç and the Old Train Station
The station buildings built for important cities on the Rumelia Railways route, which were started to be built in the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century but were delayed for various reasons, created a topology that took as an example the Sirkeci Station, first built in Istanbul by German architect August Jachmund. According to this example, station buildings were almost always planned as a long, thin structure parallel to the train line.
The success of Mimar Kemalettin Bey, who designed the Plovdiv and Edirne stations, in the design of the Plovdiv Station led to the Eastern Railways Company ordering the Edirne Stations for him as well. The Salonika Station remained unfinished after its foundations were laid due to World War I, and the Edirne Station, although completed, was never used after the war because the railway route was changed.
It was built parallel to the line on the northern edge of the railway in Karaağaç Village, approximately five kilometers southwest of Edirne. It is known that the design of the building was probably made in 1912 and its construction was completed in 1913-1914. The station could not be put into service due to the First World War in 1914. Due to the Ottomans losing most of their Balkan lands at the end of the war, only a 337 km section of the Rumelia Railways remained within Turkish borders, and in the meantime, it was necessary to cross the Greek border in order to reach the Edirne Station in Karaağaç, which entered Greek territory. For this reason, although an agreement was reached with the Eastern Railways Company in 1929 to build a new line from Alpullu to Edirne that would pass only through Turkish territory, this line was only realized many years later by the Turkish State Railways, and thus the old Edirne Station was completely abandoned.
The station, which is located very close to the Turkish-Greek border, remained empty for a while, then served as an outpost during the Cyprus events of 1974, and in 1977 it was given to the newly established Edirne Engineering and Architecture Academy, which formed the core of today’s Trakya University. The building, which was repaired and re-arranged, currently serves as the Trakya University Rectorate.
Karaağaç Gendarmerie Martyrdom Photo © edirneden.com
Gendarmerie Martyrs’ Memorial
In the 1912-1913 Balkan War defense of Edirne, the Maraş region southwest of the Meriç River and the Karaağaç region south of it formed the “Southern Front”. During the 5-month defense, the Bulgarians and Serbs aimed to achieve results from this front in order to capture Edirne.
The Bulgarian troops, who took over the majority of our troops on the southern front, began to enter the city from the south from the Karaağaç direction. As they approached the location of the Martyrs’ Memorial, they encountered fire from the Turkish Gendarmes positioned around the Gendarmerie Station and the soldiers withdrawing from the southern front. 9 Turkish Gendarmes stopped the Bulgarian troops by fighting until their last bullets for 3 hours and were martyred.
Hasan Rıza Bey, who was a painter and teacher, wanted to go home to save his unique weapon collections and unique paintings from being looted, but was caught by Bulgarian soldiers on the way and was martyred by bayonets on March 28, 1913. Hasan Rıza Bey, who had many unique paintings related to Turkish history, also has his grave here.
The Gendarmerie Martyrs’ Memorial was created by the implementation of the idea of a monument, which emerged under the leadership of Governor Hacı Adi Bey in 1915 after the Bulgarian occupation, by architect Talat Bey and a French engineer.
The Gendarmerie Martyrs’ Memorial is located on the Karaağaç road, just after the Söğütlük Forest Park.