Darıca (Greek: Δάριτζα, from the Byzantine τὰ Ῥίτζιον) is a municipality and district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey.[2] The town was previously known as Aretsou (Αρετσού) in by its native Greek population. Its area is 23 km2,[3] and its population is 225,602 (2022).[1] The current mayor is Muzaffer Bıyık.
History
Though Greek settlement around the Sea of Marmara dates to the first millenium BCE, the earliest reference to the Byzantine fortress of Ritzion (τὰ Ῥίτζιον) is in the works of the12th-century historian John Kinnamos. The ruins of the fortress, which gives the town its modern name, are still located in present-day Darıca.[4]
Prior to the expulsion of Ottoman Greeks and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, a vast majority of the residents were ethnic Greeks who practiced Orthodox Christianity. Refugees from Aretsou/Darıca founded the Nea Aretsou neighborhood in Thessaloniki, Greece.[5]
The Darıca district was created in 2008 from part of the district of Gebze, along with the districts Çayırova and Dilovası.[6][7]
Darıca is located 3 km (1.8 mi) south of Gebze, 38 km (24 mi) southeast from Istanbul and sits 10 km (6.2 mi) from Sabiha Gokcen Airport, 50 km (31 mi) away from the Atatürk International Airport and 90 km (56 mi) from Istanbul Airport in Arnavutköy. Darıca is in close proximity to large-scale transit infrastructure including the D-100 highway and the Turkish State Railway station for Kocaeli.
The district contains numerous social areas and hosts a number of festivals. It is also home to the Faruk Yalçın Zoo.[9]
^"İl İdaresi ve Mülki Bölümler Şube Müdürlüğü İstatistikleri - İl ve İlçe Kuruluş Tarihleri" (PDF) (in Turkish). p. 56. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
^Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
^"Hayvanlar – Faruk Yalçın ZOO" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-02-24.
^"Cevher Dudayev Parkı'na Rusya da kızdı". Serbestiyet (in Turkish). 2021-12-25. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
^"Turkish Decision To Name Park After Chechen Independence Leader Draws Fire And Retaliation Threats From Russia". MEMRI. December 28, 2021. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
