The center of Kartal (meaning 'eagle' in Turkish) was a fishing village on the Marmara shore during the Byzantine Empire called Kartalimen or Kartalimin in Greek, and was founded at the beginning of the 6th century. In the 11th century, the town was conquered by the ruler of the Seljuks, Suleyman Shah, and then in 1329 Kartal became part of the Ottoman Empire (however, the Byzantines re-took the city in 1403 and held it for 17 years).[3][4]