Şarköy: Thracian Wine Coast on the Marmara

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1. What is Şarköy?
2. How do you get to Şarköy?
3. When is the best time to visit Şarköy?
4. What is the history of Şarköy?
5. What is Şarköy famous for?
6. What can you do at Şarköy?
7. Frequently asked questions about Şarköy
8. What do the official records say about Şarköy?

What is Şarköy?

Şarköy is a district on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, at the western end of Tekirdağ province. Where the Ganos Mountains drop to the sea, the slopes are covered in vineyards, and the string of villages along the coast, Uçmakdere, Gaziköy, Hoşköy and Mürefte, make up Thrace’s best-known wine country. Şarköy town itself is a summer resort with a long beach and about 60 km of coastline in the district.

Under Byzantine rule the area was known as Tristatis, Peristasis and Agora. In the hills, monasteries made wine and the castle of Ganos guarded the coast.

How do you get to Şarköy?

Şarköy is 86 km west of Tekirdağ. Most people come by car or intercity bus. Uçmakdere, about 36 km from Şarköy, is reached from Tekirdağ by a winding cliff road. Intercity buses link Şarköy with Tekirdağ and Istanbul, and in summer motorboats run from Şarköy to Avşa and Marmara Island in Balıkesir province. Istanbul Airport is the main international gateway, about three hours away by road.

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When is the best time to visit Şarköy?

September is the best month for wine lovers: the harvest is under way and the 2002 inventory lists the Şarköy grape-harvest festival (bağbozumu) in early September. June and September are pleasant for the beaches without the peak crowds of July and August. Spring is green and quiet.

What is the history of Şarköy?

The Ganos coast has a long history. Gaziköy, ancient Ganos, about 25 km from Şarköy, has ruined Byzantine houses and churches and a castle that gave its name to the mountains behind. Uçmakdere has been a wine-making village since the Byzantine period and keeps the ruins of a Byzantine monastery.

At Hoşköy, formerly Hora, the French built a lighthouse in 1876. The inventory records that its lamp is made of 96 crystals and turns through 360 degrees, and calls it the second largest lighthouse in the region.

The landscape explains the wine. The 2002 inventory notes that Tekirdağ province has no high mountains, steep slopes or deep valleys except in the south, where Tekir Dağı, Koru Dağı and the Ganos Mountains break up the land. Here the hills fall straight to the sea, and the coastal strip has a Mediterranean-influenced climate of hot summers and mild winters, while inland the climate is more continental.

In the 20th century the vineyards around Mürefte grew into a modern wine industry, and Şarköy town developed as a summer resort for Istanbul and Thrace.

What is Şarköy famous for?

• Wine. Mürefte has a large modern wine industry. Semillon and gamay are grown alongside local grape varieties, and wineries include Kutman in Mürefte and Melen at Hoşköy.
• Beaches. Şarköy’s beach received a Blue Flag in 2006.
• The cliff coast of the Ganos Mountains and the village of Uçmakdere.

What can you do at Şarköy?

Visit the wineries. Mürefte and Hoşköy have several wineries; check visiting arrangements in advance. The Kutman Wine Museum in Mürefte tells the story of Thracian wine-making.

See the Hora lighthouse at Hoşköy, built by the French in 1876.

Explore Gaziköy (Ganos), with its Byzantine ruins and castle.

Drive to Uçmakdere, a seaside village on a rocky coast with the remains of a Byzantine monastery, on the cliff road from Tekirdağ.

Swim on Şarköy’s beach or the smaller beaches along the district’s coast. On the way from Tekirdağ, Kumbağ, which the inventory calls one of the province’s leading leisure centres, and Barbaros, with long sandy beaches and green vineyards, are both on the coast.

Take a boat to the islands. In summer motorboats cross from Şarköy to Avşa and Marmara Island.

Eat local. The inventory notes that fishing is concentrated on the Marmara Ereğlisi and Şarköy coast. Back in Tekirdağ city, finish with the famous köfte.

Frequently asked questions about Şarköy

What do the official records say about Şarköy?

Hora Lighthouse is a French building of 1876, in Hoşköy, a township of Şarköy district. The lamp, made up of 96 crystals, serves by turning 360 degrees around itself. It is the second largest lighthouse in the region.

Sea fishing is carried out mainly along the Marmara Ereğlisi and Şarköy coast. The aquatic product harvested most in Tekirdağ province is the white sand clam, which is exported. Among the local events of the province, the Şarköy grape-harvest festivities are held on 6–8 September. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Tekirdağ Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)