Eceabat plays a crucial role for the Turkish history as it has born the first seeds of being a nation during the Gallipoli Campaign. A small trip between Asia and Europe connects you to the heart of history. Numerous cemeteries and monuments remind you of the difficult days and how valuable peace is. Eceabat is located near the Canakkale strait and south part of Gallipoli Peninsula. The town attracts attention with developing structure, social, communal and historical richness. The locals are verw warm and visitors are welcomed very friendly in Eceabat. The strategic importance of Canakkale strait is to connect the continents and to open the way up to Istanbul.
The narrowest part of the Strait is Kilitbahir where a castle was built during the reign of Mehmet the Conquerer. As you visit the castle and enter through the door, you will sometimes hear epic stories and feel the effects of the outrageous war. As you drive along the shore from the castle, the next stop will be the Seyit Onbaşı monument. As the naval forces of the allied countries were beating the shores of Kilitbahir and the strait, the Ottoman cannons were trying to self defense. One of the cannons was seriously hit and the rail track mechanism to carry the cannon balls was destroyed. The Seyit Onbası carried the balls which were more than 150 kilos on his back three times to the cannons where as a result the great British naval ship Ocean was sunk. “The Canakkale battle is carried by great soul” said Mustafa Kemal and the Seyit Onbasi monument is one of the proofs of this saying. There are many further examples of Seyit Onbaşı cases during the Campaign. Canakkale wars are not important only for Turkish history, it is also important for the entire world. The Allies planned to reach to Istanbul by means of Canakkale strait with their war ships. They decided to capture Canakkale strait by land attack when they failed naval warfare. There has been more than 250.000 lives lost on both sides during 8,5 months. The words of Mustafa Kemal who has changed the faith of the war and of a nation explain more than words; “ I want to express you Quinn’s post (Bomba sırtı) battle. The distance between the entrenchments is8 metersmeaning death is certain. All the soldiers in the first entrenchment die and the others take their place without any hesitation. They know their end but there is no fear in their eyes but rather a full belief.”
They fought in this land with an incredible belief as a nation who did not want to be enslaved. The first seeds of the Republic and being an independent nation was born with this belief. They fought to give their children an independent and self standing country in the future.
We, as the successors’ of that generation have been and will be showing our respect and gratefullnes for those who have sacrificied themselves for us. Eceabat is one of the signs of this respect and thankfullness. The traces of the war were kept and will be passed on to the next generations with a brief message that peace must be retained and war to be avoided at all events.
The Youth Center that is structured by Eceabat district serve as information center for the visitors to learn where to go and acommodate . Eceabat is an improving town day by day by means of developing tourism, fishing and agriculture. The ceramics seen in the museums add on to your experience to witness the history. With its striking historical realities, Eceabat pulls more and more people to the reigon every year with people willing to see the soils where their ancestors have lost their lives and show their gratitude. There are a lot of accommodation possibilities in Eceabat like apart, boutique hotels, pensions and hotels. Also there are several restaurants to have a fine time during your visit. You must visit Eceabat wherever you live in the world, otherwise you will always have something missing in the history.
