Toponym
The original name of the kaza‘s seat being Andrapa (Ἄνδραπα). The toponym changed after the last Pontian king Mithridates (Mithradates) VI was defeated by the Romans. Pompey the Great then founded a ‘new city’, Neapolis (Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις), which later changed its name again to Neoklaudioupolis (Νεοκλαυδιούπολις) or Neoclaudiopolis in Latin, the forerunner of modern Vezirköprü.
History
At the breakup of Alexander the Great‘s empire the Vezirköprü region became part of the kingdom of Pontos with its capital at Amaseia (Amasya), later at Sinope (Sinop). In late antiquity, the town returned to its original name, Andrapa (Ἄνδραπα), and became a bishopric. It also minted coins bearing the dates and effigies of Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and Caracalla.
Its bishop Paralius was at the Council of Ephesus (431) and sent his deacon Eucharius to represent him at the Council of Chalcedon (451). Paulus was one of the signatories of the letter by which the bishops of the Roman province of Helenopontus, to which Andrapa belonged, protested to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian in 458 about the killing of Proterius of Alexandria.
Christian Population and Its Destruction 1915-1921
“Constructed on the ruins of the ancient Neapolis, the seat of the kaza of Vezirköprü (…) had only 6,300 inhabitants in 1914, 1,612 of them Armenians. The Armenians had two schools (with an enrolment of 150) and the Church of Saint George. The kaymakam, Bekir Bey, who held his post from 16 May 1914 to 21 January 1916, organized the elimination of the men and, thereafter, the deportation of the rest of the Armenian population toward Sivas and Malatia by way of Havza, Amasia, and Tokat.”[1]
“According to reports read by Dr. Théotokas [at the 50th Meeting of the Armenian-Greek Section on 24 November 1920] the situation on the shores of the Black Sea had become worse during the month of October [1920]. Bands were active in the neighborhood of Samsoun, confirmation having been received of the burning of villages near Vizier Keupru [Vezirköprü] and the massacre of their inhabitants, while more recently several villages had been pillaged and 50 families of the village of Codjoglou and 70 families of the village Hass Tcheshme [Çeşme] had been massacred.”[2]
In 1921 and following the Ankara wars, the Greek-Orthodox inhabitants of Vezirköprü and Sivas were led to an unknown destination and disposed of.[3] Mark Hopkins Ward, a physician of the American Near East Relief (NER; today Near East Foundation – NEF) testified that on 24 September 1921 169 Greeks from Samsun, Vezirköprü and other places were deported to Elâzığ.[4]
List of the Greek villages of Βεζίρκιοπρου – Vezirkioprou
Βεζίρκιοπρου – Vezirkioprou (Vezirköprü)
Αϊντογντού – Ayntogntou
Αρμουτλού – Armoutlou (Armutlu)
Γαράκαγια – Garakayia
Γελιμκαρα – Yelimkara
Γιάρμπασι – Yiarmpasi
Γκιουμουρτζίκ – Gioumourtzik
Ερσαντίκ – Ersantik
Ιντζιρλί – Intzirli (Incirli)
Καγιάαρασι – Kayiaarasi
Καγιάμπασι – Kayiampasi
Καπακλίεσμε – Kapakliesme
Καπλάν – Kaplan
Καράπιναρ (Γιαϊλά Καράπιναρ) – Karapinar (Yayla Karapinar)
Καράτεπε – Karatepe
Καρλίκ – Karlik
Κιουζούμκαρα – Kiouzoumkara
Κιουκλόεσμε – Kioukloesme
Κοτζάκ – Kotzak
Κιούλμπας – Kioulmpas
Κιούλτεπε – Kioultepe (Gültepe)
Μπέουλτζα – Beoultza
Μποχτσάαρμούτ – Boksaarmout
Ντερέκιοϊ – Derekioy (Dereköy)
Ολουχλού – Oloukhlou
Πατζάς – Patzas
Πίρτενε – Pirtene
Πουτζούκ-τσιφλίκ – Poutzouk-tsiflik
Σαρατζίκ-κιουτσούκ – Saratzik-bouyiouk
Σαρατζίκ-μπιουγιούκ – Saratzik-bouyouk
Σιχσιρίν – Sikhsirin
Σουγουτζάκ – Souyoutzak
Τικενλί – Tikenli
Τουρνάγκιολ – Tournagiol
Τούζγιουρτ – Touzyiourt
Τσάικουνεγί – Tsaikounegi
Τσεπνί – Tsepni (Çepni)
Τσορτουκλού – Tsortouklou
Χατζήγιουρτ – Hatziyiourt
Χότζας – Hotzas(5)