Aydın
Aydın | |
|---|---|
 Aydın skyline | |
 Emblem of Aydın Metropolitan Municipality | |
  Aydın  Aydın  Aydın | |
| Coordinates:37°50′53″N27°50′43″E/ 37.84806°N 27.84528°E | |
| Country |  Turkey |
| Province | Aydın |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Özlem Çerçioğlu(CHP) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
| • Total | 259,027 |
| Time zone | UTC+3(TRT) |
| Website | www.aydin-bld.gov.tr |
Aydın(/ˈaɪdɪn/EYE-din;Turkish:[ˈajdɯn];formerly namedGüzelhisar;Greek:Τράλλεις)is a city in and the seat ofAydın Provincein Turkey'sAegean Region.The city is located at the heart of the lower valley ofBüyük Menderes River(ancientMeander River) at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast. The city forms the urban part of theEfelerdistrict, with a population of 259,027 in 2022.[1]Aydın city is located along a region which was famous for its fertility and productivity since ancient times.Figsremain the province's best-known crop, although other agricultural products are also grown intensively and the city has somelight industry.
At the crossroads of a busy transport network of several types, a six-lane motorway connects Aydın toİzmir,Turkey's second port, in less than an hour, and in still less time to the internationalAdnan Menderes Airport,located along the road between the two cities. A smaller airport, namelyAydın Airport,is located a few kilometers in the South-East of Aydın. The region of Aydın also pioneered the introduction of railways into Turkey in the 19th century and still has the densest railroad network.
The province of Aydın is also where a number of internationally known historic sites and centers of tourism are concentrated.
Etymology
[edit]
After the first capture of the city by the Turks under the emirate (Beylik) ofMenteşe(Menteshe), whose lands extended towards the south, who named it for a first period asGüzelhisar,literally"the beautiful castle"(sometimes rendered asGuzel Hissar). The city was later taken over by Turks of theAydinids,whose lands extended towards the north, who named it after Aydinid dynasty."Aydın"meant"lucid, enlightened"inTurkishand in a distinct evolution of the term, came to mean"lettered, educated, intellectual"in modern Turkish. It is still a popular male name.
In ancient Greek sources, the name of the city is given asAnthea(Ανθέα) andEuanthia(Ευανθία). During theSeleucidperiod, it received the nameAntiochia(Greek: Αντιόχεια). At other times it was also calledSeleucia ad Maeandrum(Σελεύκεια επί του Μαιάνδρου) andErynina(Ερυνίνα).[2]InRomanandByzantinetimes, it was known asTralles(inLatin) orTralleis(Τράλλεις inAncient Greek), and was one of the largest Aegean cities in antiquity. There is some indication that it once bore the nameCharax(Χάραξ), but that name may have belonged toAcharaca.[3][4]
Nevertheless, the name Güzelhisar was used throughout the early centuries of the Ottoman administration as well, often recorded in adjectival form, as"Güzelhisar of Aydın (lands)",but the name Aydın was increasingly preferred. This previous Turkish name also found its way into the international trade vocabulary until at least the end of the 18th century and its modified formsJoselassarand evenJoseph Lasatwere used to describe a fine type of cotton produced in this same region and much sought after.[5]
History
[edit]Antiquity
[edit]According toStraboTralles was founded by theArgivesandTrallians.Along with the rest ofLydia,the city fell to thePersian Empire.After its success againstAthensin thePeloponnesian War,Spartaunsuccessfully sought to take the city from the Persians, but in 334 BC, Tralles surrendered toAlexander the Greatwithout resistance and therefore was not sacked. Alexander's generalAntigonusheld the city from 313 to 301 BC and later theSeleucidsheld the city until 190 BC when it fell toPergamon.From 133 to 129 BC, the city supportedAristonicus of Pergamon,a pretender to the Pergamene throne, against the Romans. After the Romans defeated him, they revoked the city's right to mint coins.
Tralles was aconventusfor a time under the Roman Republic, butEphesuslater took over that position. The city was taken by rebels during theMithridatic Warduring which many Roman inhabitants were killed. Tralles suffered greatly from anearthquakein 26 BC.Augustusprovided funds for its reconstruction after which the city thanked him by renaming itselfCaesarea.
Strabo describes the city as a prosperous trading center, listing famous residents of the city, includingPythodoros(native ofNysa), and orators Damasus Scombrus and Dionysocles. Several centuries later,Anthemius of Tralles,architect of theHagia SophiainConstantinople,was born in Tralles.
Christianity and Byzantine era
[edit]
An earlybishopPolybius(fl. ca. 105) is attested by a letter fromSaint Ignatius of Antiochto the church at Tralles. The city was officiallyChristianized,along with the rest ofCaria,early after the conversion ofConstantine,at which time theseewas confirmed. Among the recorded bishops are: Heracleon (431), Maximus (451), Uranius (553), Myron (692), Theophylactus (787), Theophanes and Theopistus both ninth century, and John (1230). TheCatholic Churchincludes this bishopric in its list oftitular seesas Tralles in Asia, distinguishing it from the see ofTralles in Lydia.It has appointed no newtitular bishopto these Eastern sees since theSecond Vatican Council.[6]
After theBattle of Manzikertin 1071, with theByzantine Empirewas in civil chaos, theSeljukstook Tralles for the first time butAlexios I Komnenosre-captured the city for Byzantium in the later half of the eleventh century.
By the 13th century, the city lay in ruins. In 1278,Andronikos II Palaiologosdecided to rebuild and repopulate it, now to be renamed Andronikopolis or Palaiologopolis, with the aim of forming a bulwark against Turkish encroachment in the area. Themegas domestikosMichael Tarchaneioteswas given the task: he rebuilt the walls and settled 36,000 people from the surrounding regions. 13th century Byzantine settlement policy along the Meander Valley notably involved theTurkicCumans.[7]Nevertheless, Turkish attacks resumed soon after. The city was besieged and, lacking sufficient supplies and access to water, captured by the beylik ofMenteshein 1284. The city suffered extensive destruction and part of its inhabitants were massacred.[8]Moreover, over 20,000 inhabitants were sold off as slaves.[9][10]
Turkic and Ottoman era
[edit]Under the rule ofMenteshe,whose lands extended towards the south, the city was renamed asGüzelhisar( "beautiful castle" ). The city was later taken over by theAydinids,who made it one of their principal settlements, but not the capital.
The Beylik ofAydinwas founded in the region in 1307 and they ruled the lands north ofBüyük Menderes Riverup to and includingİzmir.During the first half of the 14th century, Aydinids were as active as the Ottomans, if not more, in pressuring the islands and the lands west ofAnatolia,and they caused much hardship for the Byzantine and Latin dependencies of theAegean Seaand mainland Greece.[11]The principality was taken over by the risingOttoman Empire,for the first time shortly before theBattle of Ankarabetween theOttomansandTamerlanein 1402, and then Tamerlane having given back the province to the sons of Aydın. Finally Ottomans definitely captured it in 1425.
Aydın became part ofAnatolia Provinceof the Ottoman Empire and this until 1827, when it became the seat of its owneyaletunder its own name, constituted among other reasons to respond to the prevalent unrest in the region, as exemplified byAtçalı Kel MehmetRebellion (1829–1830). The seat was moved to İzmir in the 1840s and with the abolition of eyalets under the administrative reforms of 1864, Aydın became asanjak(subprovince) of thevilayetof the same name,with its seat still in İzmir, which had outgrown Aydın city in size as it became a booming port of international trade.
In the 19th century Aydın continued to benefit from its location at the center of the fertile Menderes valley, and its population grew.[12]At that time, besidesfigsandolive oil,which were the traditional crops of the region,cottonalso grew in importance, with many European investors seeking alternative sources of cotton at the time of theAmerican Civil War.
Construction of İzmir-Aydın railway
[edit]The first railroad commenced in the Ottoman Empire and the first finished within the present-day territory of Turkey[13]was built by the BritishLevant Companyconnecting Aydın to Smyrna (nowİzmir). The 130 km (81 mi) line was started in 1856 and finished in ten years.[14]The line fundamentally changed Aydın region's economy. The railway station built at the time remains an impressive structure in the city of Aydın.
The Greek Occupation of Aydın
[edit]During theGreco-Turkish War (1919-1922),violent fighting took place in and around Aydın [Αϊδίνιο], especially in the beginning phase of the war, during theBattle of Aydınbetween 27 June and 4 July 1919. The civilian population of the city, principally Turkish as well as Greek,[15]suffered heavy casualties. Neither could the city'sJewishpopulation, 3,500-strong in 1917 go unscathed.[16]
The "efe" resistance
[edit]
Aydın remained in ruins until it was re-captured by the Turkish army on 7 September 1922. Resistance warriors such as theefeYörük Ali,who were based in the surrounding mountains and conducted a guerrilla warfare against the Greek army, became heroes in Turkey. Following the war and the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, the Greeks of Aydın were exchanged with Muslims living in Greece under the 1923 agreement for thePopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey.
Music
[edit]Climate
[edit]Aydın has a hot summerMediterranean climate(Csa) under both theKöppenandTrewarthaclassification systems. Summers are very hot and dry, with highs above 35.0 °C (95.0 °F) on most summer days. Spring and fall are warm and variable, while winters are mild and quite rainy.
Highest recorded temperature: 45.1 °C (113.2 °F) on 3 August 2021
lowest recorded temperature: −11.0 °C (12.2 °F) on 4 January 1942[17]
| Climate data for Aydın (1991–2020, extremes 1941–2023) (elevation: 56, coordinates:37°50′25″N27°50′16″E/ 37.84028°N 27.83778°E) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 23.2 (73.8) |
27.4 (81.3) |
32.4 (90.3) |
35.4 (95.7) |
42.6 (108.7) |
44.4 (111.9) |
44.8 (112.6) |
45.1 (113.2) |
43.3 (109.9) |
39.5 (103.1) |
31.1 (88.0) |
25.9 (78.6) |
45.1 (113.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.5 (56.3) |
15.2 (59.4) |
18.7 (65.7) |
23.2 (73.8) |
28.9 (84.0) |
34.2 (93.6) |
37.0 (98.6) |
36.6 (97.9) |
32.6 (90.7) |
27.0 (80.6) |
20.3 (68.5) |
14.7 (58.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) |
9.5 (49.1) |
12.3 (54.1) |
16.1 (61.0) |
21.2 (70.2) |
26.2 (79.2) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.3 (82.9) |
24.0 (75.2) |
19.1 (66.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
9.5 (49.1) |
18.1 (64.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.4 (39.9) |
5.3 (41.5) |
7.2 (45.0) |
10.5 (50.9) |
14.9 (58.8) |
19.1 (66.4) |
21.5 (70.7) |
21.4 (70.5) |
17.6 (63.7) |
13.6 (56.5) |
9.0 (48.2) |
5.9 (42.6) |
12.5 (54.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −11.0 (12.2) |
−5.4 (22.3) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
4.6 (40.3) |
8.4 (47.1) |
13.4 (56.1) |
11.8 (53.2) |
7.6 (45.7) |
1.6 (34.9) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
−5.3 (22.5) |
−11.0 (12.2) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 111.3 (4.38) |
87.4 (3.44) |
70.8 (2.79) |
53.4 (2.10) |
43.8 (1.72) |
14.3 (0.56) |
6.0 (0.24) |
6.1 (0.24) |
18.4 (0.72) |
45.2 (1.78) |
86.5 (3.41) |
110.3 (4.34) |
653.5 (25.73) |
| Average precipitation days | 11.13 | 10.53 | 9.53 | 8.80 | 7.33 | 2.90 | 0.70 | 0.77 | 2.57 | 5.90 | 7.93 | 11.97 | 80.1 |
| Average snowy days | 0.33 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.04 | 0.54 |
| Averagerelative humidity(%) | 72.5 | 69.5 | 65.5 | 62.4 | 57.5 | 49.8 | 48.4 | 52.2 | 56 | 63.2 | 69.2 | 74.3 | 61.7 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 111.6 | 113.0 | 161.2 | 183.0 | 229.4 | 264.0 | 291.4 | 272.8 | 231.0 | 179.8 | 126.0 | 99.2 | 2,262.4 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 3.6 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 6.1 | 7.4 | 8.8 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 6.2 |
| Source 1:Turkish State Meteorological Service[17] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:NOAA NCEI(humidity),[18]Ogimet,[19]Meteomanz(snow days 2000-2023)[20] | |||||||||||||
Economy
[edit]
In the 1920s, Aydın was noted for itscottonand grain production. There are many olive trees located in Aydın. Some citizens usually produce olive oil but there are also many small-scale firms which export olive oil to different countries.[21]
Modern Aydın
[edit]
Recent decades have seen Aydın going beyond its traditional role as a hub for agricultural products, and developing a diversified economy increasingly based on services. One event in this process was the opening in 1992 ofAdnan Menderes University,named after a favorite son of Efeler, AydınAdnan Menderes,Turkey's prime ministerduring the 1950s. The pace of the economy is determined by the city's location, at only an hour's drive from the seashore. Many residents of Aydın typically have summer houses and investments in or around such centers of tourism asKuşadası,GüzelçamlıandDidim.
But still the city has a quiet country market town feel to it and its dominance, within both theTurkish marketand abroad, in the production of a number of agricultural products, particularly figs, still identifiesAydın Province,and most of this trade is managed and handled from Aydın itself.
Aydın city centre is still relatively small but growing, centred on one palm-lined avenue of shops and cafes, and a maze of narrow side streets, dotted with orange trees. The people more family-oriented, so there is little night life, or cultural amenities for young people, although presumably now they have a university this will change. There are a number of mosques, high schools,dersane(private courses cramming students for the university entrance exams) and other public buildings. Like all Turkish cities Aydın is now spreading as the middle-classes are leaving their flats in the city for smarter apartments or houses slightly out of town.
Transport
[edit]The construction of the six-laneİzmir-Aydın motorway shortened the journey from Aydın to İzmir, Turkey's second portuary center, to less than an hour, and less still to the internationalAdnan Menderes Airport.
Sports
[edit]At the end of the 2018–2019 season, no sports clubs in Aydın were promoted or relegated to the next league. Aydın's only super league team,Aydın Büyükşehir BelediyesporWomen's Volleyball team, played in the final in the Challenge Cup in Europe and ranked second. In football, Nazilli Belediyespor ranked 10th in the 2nd League at the end of the play-off matches. Aydın PTT SK placed 9th in the Handball Men's 1st League. Other clubs are in the 2nd, 3rd and regional leagues.
Places of interest
[edit]
- The Ottoman period mosques of Ramazan Paşa, Süleyman Paşa and Cihanoğlu
- The Byzantine tower and fortifications above the town
- Roman era ruins (of Tralles) including a gymnasium and a theatre
- The statue ofYörük Ali Efein the town, which was pulled down and remade after public protests that the original statue showed theefewithout a moustache.
- Aydın Museum- archaeology, coinage and ethnographic collection
- Recreational resorts Pınarbaşı and Aytepe, which are connected by theAydın Pınarbaşı-Aytepe Gondola.
- Altinkum Plaji, Didim Aydin. A vast beach stretching over coastline that has some factors of interest
Notable people
[edit]Greco-Roman period
[edit]- Crates of Tralles(4th century BC) - an orator
- Sosiades (3rd century BC) - Victor of the Olympic games at the boyswrestling[22]
- Apollonius(2nd century BC) - Greek sculptor
- Herodotos (2nd century BC) - Victor of thePythian Gamesat the boysstadion[23]
- Timotheus (2nd century BC) - Victor of the 163Ancient Olympic Gamesatstadion[24]
- Archimedes(date uncertain) - Greek grammarian
- Menecrates(1st century BC) - Greek physician
- Pythodoros(1st century BC) - Son-in-law ofMark Antonyand father ofPythodorida of Pontus
- Pollio Asinius of Tralles (Πωλίων Ἀσίνιος) (1st century BC), a Greek sophist and philosopher[25]
- Tauriscus of Tralles, a Greek sculptor[26]
- Aphrodisius of Tralles, a Greek sculptor[26]
- Menodorus (1st century BC), priest ofZeusLarisaeus at Tralles, was killed by Domitius Ahenobarbus on the charge of attempting a revolt on his fleet[27]
- Jason (1st century BC) - Tragic actor[28][29]
- Tryphosa,Hedeaand Dionysia (1st century AD) - Young female champions and daughters ofHermesianax.Their father erected a monument atDelphifor his daughters.[30]
- Dionysocles, Greekorator[31]
- Damasus Scombrus, Greek orator[31]
- Artemidorus of Tralles(1st century AD) - Victor of theOlympic gamesat thePankrationandwrestling.[32]
- Thessalus(1st century AD) - physician and early adherent to theMethodic schoolof medicine.
- Phlegon(2nd century AD) - Greek historian underHadrian
- Munatius (2nd century AD) - Greek orator and teacher ofHerodes Atticus[33]
- Anthemius(c. 474-c. 534) - Greek professor of geometry and architect, co-builder ofHaghia Sophia
- Amphiclea (4th century) - wife ofProhaeresius[34]
- Alexander- (6th century) - physician
- Asclepius- (6th century) - student ofAmmonius Hermiae,writer and philosopher
Aydinid-Ottoman period
[edit]- Atçalı Kel Mehmet Efe(1780–1830), a Zeybek, who led a local revolt against Ottoman authority
- Yörük Ali Efe(1895 - 1951), warlord in the Ottoman Empire, and a militia officer in the Turkish Army during the Turkish War of Independence
- Chrysostomos II(1880-1968),archbishop of Athens
- Eftichia Papagianopoulou(1893–1972), Greek lyricist
- Dido Sotiriou(1909–2004), Greek novelist, journalist and playwright
Turkish Republic
[edit]- Yeşim Büber(born 1977), actress
- Rıdvan Dilmen,football player
- Sadık Giz(1911-1979), politician
- Ulaş Güler(born 1980), football player
- Gökhan Kırdar(born 1970), musician and film score composer
- Adnan Menderes(1899–1961), Turkish Prime Minister
- Ahmet İlhan Özek(born 1988), football player
- Osman Özköylü(born 1971), football player
- Evren Özyiğit(born 1986), football player
Twin towns – sister cities
[edit]
Bugulma,Russia
Montereau-Fault-Yonne,France
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ab"Aydın".citypopulation.de.Retrieved10 January2024.
- ^Hazlitt, William (1851).The Classical Gazetteer.p. 353.
- ^Edward Smedley; Hugh James Rose; Henry John Rose, eds. (1845).Encyclopædia Metropolitana.Vol. XXI. London. p. 624.RetrievedAugust 22,2018.
- ^Mary Ann Dwight (1849).Grecian and Roman Mythology(2nd ed.). New York: George P. Putnam. p.443.RetrievedAugust 22,2018.
- ^Encyclopédie Méthodique.Vol. 15.Charles-Joseph Panckoucke.1783. p. 732.
- ^Annuario Pontificio 2013(Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013,ISBN978-88-209-9070-1), p. 995
- ^Mark L. Bartusis (1997),The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204-1453,University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 26,ISBN978-0-8122-1620-2
- ^Speros Vryonis,The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century(University of California Press, 1971), p. 251
- ^Nicol, Donald MacGillivray(1993),The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453,Cambridge University Press, p. 86,ISBN978-0-521-43991-6
- ^Kazhdan, Alexander,ed. (1991),Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium,Oxford University Press, p. 1284,ISBN978-0-19-504652-6
- ^John Van Antwerp Fine Jr (1991).The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest.University of Michigan Press.p. 292.
- ^According to 1912 figures, the Sandjak of Aydın had a total population of 220000, in which 39000-54500 according to varying sources, wereGreeks.The sizable share of the Greek population was, as it was the case with many other localities across WesternAnatolia,the result of an increase due toeconomic migrationfromAegean Islandsor even the Greek mainland to fertile Anatolian valleys as of the beginning of the 19th century and especially during its second half. An 1856Britishreport presented to theSecretary of State for Wardescribes Aydın region in elogious terms and Aydın and theMenderes Rivervalley to be entirelyTurk.(full text) Report on Smyrna by George Rollestonfor theSecretary of State for War.Section on Aydın, p. 104-108
- ^A short line built inDobrujawas started later but finished earlier than İzmir-Aydın railway.
- ^Mustafa Cavusoglu (May 2006)."Fast lines take priority in Turkish investment".Railway Gazette International.Archived fromthe originalon September 18, 2012.Retrieved2006-05-29.
- ^Erhan, Çağrı (April 1999)."Greek Occupation of İzmir and Adjoining Territories - Report of the Inter-allied Commission of Inquiry (May–September 1919)"(PDF).SAM Papers No. 2/99.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2007-06-29.
- ^Günver, Güneş (2005)."An essay on Aydın's Jewish community from Tanzimat period until the Republic".Culture and Identity Symposium,Istanbul(in Turkish). Association for Researches on Culture -Koç University.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-05-04.
- ^ab "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)"(in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service.Retrieved1 May2021.
- ^"World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020: Aydin"(CSV).ncei.noaa.gov.National Oceanic and Atmosoheric Administration.Retrieved23 June2024.
WMO station number: 17234
- ^"17234: Aydin (Turkey)".ogimet.com.OGIMET.3 August 2021.Retrieved4 August2021.
- ^"Aydin - Weather data by months".Meteomanz.Retrieved17 July2024.
- ^Prothero, G.W. (1920).Anatolia.London: H.M. Stationery Office.
- ^Phlegon, Olympiades
- ^Asklepieion Inscription
- ^Eusebius: Chronicle, pages 191-247
- ^Suda, pi, 2165
- ^abPliny the Elder, Natural History
- ^Strabo, Geography, book 14, chapter 1.42
- ^Plutarch, Crassus, chapter 33
- ^Polyaenus, Strategems, 7.41.1
- ^Inscriptions IAG 63
- ^abStrabo, Geography, book 14, chapter 1
- ^Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.14.2 - 6.14.3
- ^Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists
- ^Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists, 511
Sources
[edit]- Günter Dinhobl; Ralf Roth (2008).Across the Borders: Financing the World's Railways in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.Ashgate Publishing.ISBN978-0-7546-6029-3.
- Blue Guide, Turkey, The Aegean and Mediterranean Coasts (ISBN978-0-393-30489-3), pp. 353–54.
- Richard Talbert,Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World(ISBN0-691-03169-X), p. 61.
External links
[edit]
- .Catholic Encyclopedia.1913.
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