Edessa was the original capital of the County of Edessa.
The County of Edessa was founded in 1098 during the First Crusade, and its seat was Edessa, a strategically important city in Upper Mesopotamia. Edessa is now called Şanlıurfa and lies in southeastern Turkey. Its position east of the Euphrates made it a valuable frontier base, but also left it unusually exposed to Muslim powers and geographically separated from the other major Crusader states.
The city had a long Christian history before the crusaders arrived. It was an important centre of Syriac Christian culture and translation, with scholars working on Greek philosophical and religious texts. Baldwin of Boulogne took control of the city in 1098 and became its first Frankish count.
Edessa remained the county’s capital until its capture by Zengi in 1144, with a brief recovery in 1146. After the loss of the city, the counts governed their remaining western territories from Turbessel. Acre, Antioch, and Tripoli belonged to other Crusader states or lordships, so they are not correct alternatives for the county’s original capital.