Yenice-i Vardar s located on the northern edge of the Great Macedonian Plain (Campania), between the southern slopes of the Paikon Mountains and the shallow Yenice Lake (now partially dried up), which lies further south. It was founded by Gazi Evrenos Bey in the late 14th century. The Thessaloniki-Vodina road, one of the important transport axes of Northern Greece, passes through the city.

According to the legendary history of Evliya Çelebi (1668), Yenice emerged between two small Byzantine fortresses that were destroyed after the conquest. Evrenos Bey built a mosque, caravanserai, kitchen for the poor, madrasah, bathhouse and water channels on the higher side of the plain and settled his loyal men and their families from Serres in this new city.

He brought drinking water to the city from the Paikon Mountains, more than 10 kilometers away, through underground tunnels and stone aqueducts. The vast plains surrounding the new city provided suitable pastures for the horses of the raiding parties.

During the reigns of Evrenos Bey’s sons and successors, especially İki Yürekli Ali Bey (d. 864/1460) and Isâ Bey (d. 1470), this new city became an important Ottoman cultural center, adorned with new mosques and schools.

Text taken from the TDV Islamic Encyclopedia. Source: Shteti i Lartë Osman Historia & Kultura Osmane, Shteti i Lartë Osman.