Kirklareli is a town in the northwestern corner of the European part of Turkey. It was conquered in 1362 by the Ottomans, who called it Kirk Kilise (Forty Churches, or perhaps Forty Saints, from Gk. sarante eklesiai), but the name was changed officially in 1924. Kirklareli was the most important sancak of Edirne (Adrianople) because of its location on the route from Istanbul to Shumen and Pravadi. The date when Jews first arrived in the town is unknown. The Polish traveler Simon, who passed through Kirklareli in 1603, mentions an Ashkenazi community whose main income came from the pr…