“ Pop. (1905) , about 16,000, of whom about half are Greeks, and the remainder Bulgarians, Turks and Jews. Kirk-Kilisseh is built near the headwaters of several small tributaries of the river Ergene, and on the western slope of the Istranja Dagh. It owes its chief importance to its position at the southern outlet of the Fakhi defile over these mountains, through which passes the shortest road from Shumla to Constantinople. ”