Aksaray
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Aksaray | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 38°22′27″N 34°01′44″E / 38.37417°N 34.02889°E | |
Country | Turkey |
Province | Aksaray |
District | Aksaray |
Government | |
• Mayor | Evren Dinçer[1] (AKP) |
Elevation | 980 m (3,220 ft) |
Population (2021)[2] | 247,147 |
Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Postal code | 68100 |
Area code | 0382 |
Website | www |
Aksaray (pronounced
The city of Aksaray has a long history and was an important stopover point on the Silk Road that transited Anatolia for centuries. It is a mid-sized city with the Melendiz river running through it and several monuments dating back to the pre-Ottoman era as well as some impressive examples of government buildings from the early Turkish Republic that are gathered around the main square.
The nearest airport is Kapadokya Nevşehir Airport (NAV) which is 62.1 km away from the city.
Etymology
In antiquity the area was named Archelais Garsaura, which was mutated to Taksara during the
History
Antiquity
First mentioned as Šinaḫuttum-Šinuhtu in ancient Hittite texts, and later Nenaşşa, (also spelled as Nenessa and Nenossós in Ancient Greek texts) and Kurşaura, The town of Garsaura was named Archelaïs (Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς) by Archelaus of Cappadocia, the last Cappadocian king. In Roman times, the town was known as Colonia and became a bishropric.
Of its bishops, Euphrasius was at the
Middle Ages
During Byzantine times, the town was known as Koloneia (Κολώνεια) was an important military center, holding an imperial aplekton.[9]
At some point between 1081 and 1084, the town was part of the domain of Suleiman ibn Qutalmish according to Ibn al-Athīr.[9] This would later became the Sultanate of Rum and the Sultans founded and left important landmarks in and around the town. Its name also changed over time to Taksará and Aksará, which is a rendering of Garsáoura. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta. who visited the region in the 14th century, was impressed by the class of Muslim traders that had emerged in Aksaray and noted the urban centre as "a beautiful city, surrounded by waterways and gardens, with a water supply coming right to the houses of the city."
Ottoman Empire
In 1470 Aksaray was incorporated into the
During Ottoman times, the town was prosperous in part because of its proximity to Tuz Gölü (Lake Tuz), which was a primary source of salt for Anatolia.[10]
Attractions
In Aksaray
The Aksaray Grand Mosque, also known as the Karamanoğlu Camii or Ulu Camii, is a large mosque right in the city centre dating back to 1408-09 and the Karamanoğlu dynasty. It has a detached minaret erected in 1925.[11][12]
The
The Luna Park, also known as Kültürpark is a large amusement theme park in the city centre of Aksaray.[14]
The Zincirye Medresesi (Chained School) was a Koranic school with a typical soaring and elaborate
The Kurşunlu Mosque, also known as the Kurşunlu Camii, and formerly the Hacı Bektaş Mosque, is a mosque in the city center of Aksaray. It is believed to have been built in 1325 by the Seljuks.[16]
The Hakiki Yusuf Baba complex, also known as Somunca Baba Complex, contains the tombs of the 14th-century Islamic leader Somuncu Baba and the scholar Cemaleddin'i Aksaray.[12]
The Kapalı Çarşı, meaning "Covered Market" is a Grand Bazaar in the city centre of Aksaray.[17]
The Aksaray Observation Deck is an observation deck overlooking the city of Aksaray.[18][19]
The Azmi Milli Museum, also known as the Azm-i Milli T.A.Ş. Un Fabrikası, is a historic stone building built in the 1930s on the commands of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.[20] It sits adjacent to the Zincirye Medresesi. It currently operates as a museum.[21][22]
The Paşa Hamam, an Ottoman-era Turkish hamam built by Hacı Ali Pasha.[23]
The Kılıçaslan Hamam, a recently restored Turkish hamam in the city centre.[24]
The Aksaray Highschool, or Aksaray Lisesi, is the location of the former Roman thermae or bathhouse.[25]
A newer attraction is Hünkarland, a large
Around Aksaray
The area around the city also contains several
The dramatic Ihlara Canyon, 40 km (25 mi) southeast of the city, was carved out by the Melendiz river and its walls are riddled with Byzantine frescoed churches dating back to the early Middle Ages. It runs from Selime village in the north to Ihlara township in the south and is a popular destination for tour groups visiting Cappadocia.[27]
Near Ihlara, Güzelyurt is a pretty Cappadocian town with rock-cut churches and even a rock-cut mosque as well as many find stone houses from the 19th century. Nearby are the remains of the Red Church (Kızıl Kilise) and the High Church (Yüksek Kilise).[28]
Caravanserais
Several monumental
The monumental entrance to the han is on the east side and is a 13m-high marble portal (
At the other side of the courtyard is another equally decorative arched entrance with muqarnas,
Aksaray Museum
Aksaray Museum exhibits the
Aksaray Castle
the Aksaray Castle was a four-cornered, stone-built, solidly built castle on a large area, on the edge of the Melendiz river. It was built in the middle of the city. The bastion and its towers were not very high. With all their bastions, teeth and bodies, their crenellated holes and their calculated towers always faced each other. During the siege, the strong warriors of each tower guarded the towers with rifles. There were five gates on the side of the fortresses. Küçükkapı faces west. Demirkapı (Sídero Porta) opens to the qibla. Keçikapısı (Gida Porta) also opens towards the qibla. Ereğlikapısı (Herakleia Porta) opens to the south and Konyakapısı (Ikónion Porta) opens to the west. The guards of these gates are the tax collectors. A warehouse was built in the castle to store wheat during the rebels' time. It has no arsenal. There were big balls thrown during Ramadan and other festivals.[30]
The southern interior of the castle is now where Aksaray Square stands. The Kurşunlu Mosque is where Ereğlikapısı used to be. It also encompasses the Aksaray Grand Mosque to the North-East of where the castle once stood. The Zinciriye Medresesi lies at the West entrance of the castle. The existence of the castle dates back to the first ages but was also very prominent during the Middle Ages. The castle existed in Roman and Byzantine times.[31]
Economy
Seventy percent of the local workforce is engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. Barley, sugar beet, vetch, corn, potatoes, onions, beans, flax, hemp, grapes and apples are the main local crops, with wheat production being most dominant. Carpet and rug weaving were traditionally important, especially in the area around Sultanhanı but these days the weavers mainly focus on repairing and repurposing old carpets.[32] There is also some industry in Aksaray city.[33]
Climate
Aksaray has a
Climate data for Aksaray (1991–2020, extremes 1929–2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 19.4 (66.9) |
21.8 (71.2) |
29.0 (84.2) |
31.8 (89.2) |
34.1 (93.4) |
36.9 (98.4) |
40.0 (104.0) |
38.8 (101.8) |
38.7 (101.7) |
34.5 (94.1) |
29.5 (85.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
40.0 (104.0) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.8 (42.4) |
8.1 (46.6) |
13.3 (55.9) |
18.4 (65.1) |
23.5 (74.3) |
27.7 (81.9) |
31.3 (88.3) |
31.3 (88.3) |
27.2 (81.0) |
21.4 (70.5) |
13.7 (56.7) |
7.7 (45.9) |
19.1 (66.4) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.9 (33.6) |
2.6 (36.7) |
7.1 (44.8) |
11.9 (53.4) |
16.7 (62.1) |
21.0 (69.8) |
24.5 (76.1) |
24.4 (75.9) |
19.8 (67.6) |
14.2 (57.6) |
7.4 (45.3) |
2.8 (37.0) |
12.8 (55.0) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.0 (26.6) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
1.7 (35.1) |
6.0 (42.8) |
10.3 (50.5) |
13.9 (57.0) |
17.1 (62.8) |
17.0 (62.6) |
12.3 (54.1) |
7.7 (45.9) |
2.1 (35.8) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
6.8 (44.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | −26.4 (−15.5) |
−29.0 (−20.2) |
−19.0 (−2.2) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
2.9 (37.2) |
6.8 (44.2) |
5.9 (42.6) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−14.0 (6.8) |
−21.9 (−7.4) |
−29.0 (−20.2) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 41.7 (1.64) |
32.2 (1.27) |
39.7 (1.56) |
40.4 (1.59) |
43.1 (1.70) |
24.7 (0.97) |
8.2 (0.32) |
6.2 (0.24) |
12.4 (0.49) |
25.9 (1.02) |
30.1 (1.19) |
44.8 (1.76) |
349.4 (13.76) |
Average precipitation days | 11.3 | 10.2 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 12.1 | 7.5 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 10.9 | 99.1 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 96.1 | 130.0 | 176.7 | 213.0 | 279.0 | 327.0 | 372.0 | 347.2 | 279.0 | 217.0 | 150.0 | 93.0 | 2,680 |
Mean daily sunshine hours | 3.1 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 7.1 | 9.0 | 10.9 | 12.0 | 11.2 | 9.3 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 7.3 |
Source: Turkish State Meteorological Service[34] |
Sports
The
Notable residents
- Piri Mehmed Pasha Ottoman Grand Vizier 1518–1523
International relations
Aksaray is
- Ganja, Azerbaijan
- Venice, Italy
- Graz, Austria
- Sankt Pölten, Austria
- Lons-le-Saunier, France
- Ajaccio, France
- Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary
- Osaka, Japan
- Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
- Košice, Slovakia
- Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia
- Burgas, Bulgaria
- Russian Federation
- Dekemhare, Eritrea
Possible sister cities
- Bandaressalam, Comoros
- Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
- Akhalkalaki, Georgia
Proposed sister cities
References
- ^ "Aksaray Election Results – March 31 2019 Aksaray Local Election results". Yeni Şafak. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
- ^ TÜİK. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ İl Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 413-416
- ^ Raymond Janin, v. 2. Colonia, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XIII, Paris 1956, col. 326
- ^ Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 440
- ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 873
- ^ a b Beihammer 2017, p. 228.
- ISBN 978-1-40536-888-9
- ^ "Ulu Camii (Karamanoğlu Mehmed Bey Camii) - Aksaray".
- ^ a b c "AKSARAY". www.turkeyfromtheinside.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
- ^ "Eğri Minare - Aksaray".
- ^ "Lunapark hizmet vermeye başladı".
- ^ "Zinciriye Medresesi - Aksaray".
- ^ "AKSARAY". www.yeniakit.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
- ^ "Aksaray kapalı carsı map".
- ^ "Aksaray Seyir Terası".
- ^ "Aksaray Seyir Terası Restaurant ve Kafe".
- ^ "AZMİ MİLLİ UN FABRİKASI Atatürk'ün talimatıyla kurulmuştu, 98 yıldır ayakta".
- ^ "ANADOLU'DA BİR ENDÜSTRİ MİRASI: AKSARAY AZMİ MİLLİ UN FABRİKASI".
- ^ "BAŞKAN DİNÇER AZMİ MİLLİ MÜZESİNİ TRT EKRANLARINDA TANITTI".
- ^ "Paşa Hamamı - Aksaray".
- ^ "KALORİFER SİSTEMLİ II. KILIÇARSLAN HAMAMI 800 YAŞINDA".
- ^ "Selçuklu Ve Beylikler Döneminde Aksaray Şehri".
- ^ "Hasan Dağı - Aksaray".
- ^ Borges, Jason. "Ihlara Valley (Overview)".
- ^ Borges, Jason. "The Masonry Churches of Cappadocia".
- ^ a b c Branning, Katherine. "Sultan Han Aksaray".
- ^ Bekir DENİZ. "AKSARAY KALESİ - The Citadel of Aksaray" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-10-13.
- ^ Aksaray e-Ansiklopedi. "Encyclopedia about Aksaray Castle" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-10-13.
- ^ "Historic carpets gains a new face in Turkish town". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ "Aksaray Belediyesi". www.aksaray.bel.tr. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
- ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
- ^ "Elite Athletes to run at The Runfire Cappadocia". Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau. July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
Sources
- Beihammer, Alexander Daniel (2017). Byzantium and the Emergence of Muslim Turkish Anatolia, ca. 1040-1130. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-22959-4.
- Stierlin, Henry. 1998. Turkey: From the Selçuks to the Ottomans. New York: Taschen, 240.
- Yavuz, Aysil Tükel. 1997. The Concepts that Shape Anatolian Seljuq Caravanserais. In Muqarnas XIV: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World. Gülru Necipoglu (ed). Leiden: E.J. Brill, 80–95 (download)
- Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. "General information on Aksaray, Turkey" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- Aksaray e-Ansiklopedi. "Encyclopedia about Aksaray Castle" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-10-13.