Toponym Isparta is a Turkish spelling of Greek Sparta. There are different theories about the origin and meaning of the toponym. In Byzantine times the town was called Báris (Βάρις) or Sbárita, in Ottoman times Hamid, after the Beylik Hamidoğulları that existed here in the 14th century. In 1846, the city was given the name Hamidabad and became the administrative seat of a sancak. Administration The sancak comprised the region around the town of Isparta, which was ruled by the Hamidids, an autonomous Turkish dynasty that submitted to the Ottomans in 1390 or 1391/92. It became part of the Anatolia Eyalet, but was lost [...]
Archives: Regions
Our CPT for the regions
Sancak Burdur / Πολυδώριον – Polydorion / Praetoria
Toponym In the Byzantine era, the city existed with the name Polydorion (Grk.: Πολυδώριον), from which the current name is derived. History Ancient history Whilst there is evidence of habitation in the province dating back to 6500 B.C., the earliest sign of habitation in the city itself dates to Early Bronze Age. Artifacts from this period have been found in the site of today’s railway station. In antiquity, the area was part of the region of Pisidia. It has been proposed that the city of Burdur has changed location a number of times; the ancient city of Limnombria (“Lake City”) was closer to Lake [...]
Sancak of Niğde / Νίγδη – Nigdi / Μαγίδα – Magida
Niğde is surrounded on three sides by the Taurus Mountains with the highest peak of Hasan Dağı in the region and the Melendiz River. To the west lies the plain of Emen (Beyşehir district in Konya province), which opens into the vast plain of Konya. This is extremely fertile volcanic soil that provides Niğde with rich agriculture, especially apples and potatoes. Niğde (source: http://www.eskiturkiye.net/3705/nigde#lg=0&slide=0) Administration The Ottoman sancak of Niğde comprised the five kazas of Niğde, Nevşehir, Ürgüp, Aksaray, and Bor. Toponym The place name goes back to Hittite Nahita, Naxita or Nakida, in ancient Greek Nigdi. History The area has been inhabited since the Neolithic period 8,000 [...]
Kaza Ereğli / Ηράκλεια Κυβίστρα – Heraclea Cybistra
Toponym The Turkish form of the name is derived from the original ancient Greek name Irakleia (Ηράκλεια; Latin: Heracleia Kybistra). History Possibly Ereğli is identical with the Hittite Ḫupišna, which was a local cult center of the goddess Ḫuwaššanna. In the early Iron Age, Ḫupišna was a neo-Hittite small state in the land of Tabal. In Hellenistic and especially in Roman times, the city was an important place under the name of Herakleia Kybistra, at the point from where the road to the Gülek Pass (Cilician Gates; Armenian: Kuklak) leads into the mountains. It was located on common military routes and was therefore plundered [...]
Kaza Akşehir / Philomelion
Toponym The county/district was known in ancient times and in the Middle Ages as Philomelion (ancient Greek) and Philomelium (Latin), respectively. The Turkish name Akşehir literally means ‘white city’. In English usage other spellings of the name include Ak-Shehr, Ak-Shahr, Akshehr, Akshahr, Akshehir, and Aqshahr. Akşehir, 1896 (source: https://www.eskiturkiye.net/arama/Ak%C5%9Fehir) History The foundation of Philomelion probably dates back to the Macedonian prince Philomelos, who lived in the third century B.C. Cicero, on his way to Cilicia, dated some of his extant correspondence there; and the place played a considerable part in the frontier wars between the Byzantine emperors and the Sultanate of Rum. During the time of the [...]