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Nevşehir Latitude and Longitude:

38°37′35″N 34°42′50″E / 38.62639°N 34.71389°E / 38.62639; 34.71389
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nevşehir
Panoramic view from Nevşehir Castle
Panoramic view from Nevşehir Castle
Nevşehir is located in Turkey
Nevşehir
Nevşehir
Location in Turkey
Nevşehir is located in Turkey Central Anatolia
Nevşehir
Nevşehir
Nevşehir (Turkey Central Anatolia)
Coordinates: 38°37′35″N 34°42′50″E / 38.62639°N 34.71389°E / 38.62639; 34.71389
Country Turkey
Province Nevşehir
District Nevşehir
Government
 • MayorMehmet Savran ( AKP)
Elevation
1,224 m (4,016 ft)
Population
 (2022) [1]
123,882
Time zone UTC+3 ( TRT)
Postal code
50300
Area code0384
Website www.nevsehir.bel.tr
Hot Air Balloon in Nevsehir at Sunrise

Nevşehir (Turkish pronunciation: ['nevʃehiɾ]; from nev 'new' and şehir 'city') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Nevşehir Province and Nevşehir District. [2] Its population is 123,882 (2022). [1] It is 290 km (180 mi) from the capital Ankara and lies within the historical region of Cappadocia.

The town lies at an elevation of 1,224 m (4,016 ft) and has a continental climate, with heavy snow in winter and great heat in summer. Although Nevşehir is close to the underground cities, fairy chimneys, monasteries, caravanserais and rock-hewn churches of Cappadocia, and has a few hotels, the modern town is not itself a tourist centre. In 2015 a huge underground city was discovered underneath its centre following demolition works intended to clear the central hillside of ramshackle modern housing. [3]

Founded in 2007, Nevşehir University was renamed Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in 2013. [4]

Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport (NAV) is 30 kilometres northwest of the town. [5] The inter-city bus station is about 6 km southwest of the city centre. Two planned high-speed rail services should eventually link Nevşehir to Antalya, Konya, Kayseri and Ankara. [6]

History

Frescos of Christ Pantocrator on the ceiling of the Karanlık Kilise in Göreme Open-Air Museum, near Nevşehir
View of the Cappadocia landscape in Nevşehir province

Prehistory and ancient history

The Hittites first founded the settlement of Nissa on the slopes of Mount Kahveci, located in the present-day settlement of Nar, in the valley of Kızılırmak (the ancient Halys). The settlement was later known as Soanda and Seandos. This town, along with the region, came under the rule of the Assyrian Empire around the 8th century BC, and was subsequently ruled by the Medes and then by the Persians during the reign of emperor Cyrus the Great in 546 BC. In 333 BC, Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and after his death, the surrounding area came under the rule of the dynasty of Ariarathes with Mazaka (present-day Kayseri) as its capital. The Cappadocian kingdom became a province- of the Roman empire in the reign of Emperor Tiberius.

Medieval history

The so-called underground cities found around Nevşehir may originally have been built to escape persecution by the pagan Roman authorities although others believe they date back to Hittite times. [7] Many of the churches, hewn in the rocks, date from these early years of Christianity. Even when Theodosius I made Christianity the official religion of the empire, the caves offered protection for the local people during raids by the Sassanid Persians circa AD 604 and by the Islamic Caliphate from AD 647 onwards. When Iconoclasm became state policy in the Byzantine empire, again the caves around Nevşehir became shelters for those escaping persecution. Nevşehir was known as Neapolis (meaning New City in Greek) throughout much of the Byzantine and Roman periods.

The castle on the hill in the middle of Nevşehir dates from the Byzantine period, when the region was on the frontline in the (holy) wars against the Islamic Caliphate. [8]

At the Battle of Manzikert (present-day Malazgirt) in AD 1071, the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV was defeated by the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan which led to the occupation of Anatolia by the Seljuks by 1074. Along with the rest of the region, Nevşehir became part of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, then fell under the rule of the Karamanid dynasty in 1328 and finally under Ottoman rule around 1487 AD when it was renamed Muşkara. It remained relatively insignificant until the early 18th century.

Modern history

Kayaşehir and the surrounding seen from Nevşehir Castle

The present-day city owes its foundation in the so-called Tulip Age to the grand vizier and son-in-law of the Sultan Ahmed III, Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha who was born in Muşkara and later took a great interest in its expansion. The small village with only 18 houses, formerly under the administration of the kaza of Ürgüp, was rapidly transformed with the building of mosques (the Kurṣunlu Mosque), fountains, schools, soup kitchens, inns and bath houses, and its name was changed from Muşkara to "Nevşehir" (meaning New City in Persian and Ottoman Turkish). In 1730 the grand vizier was assassinated by rebels in İstanbul but by then Nevşehir was firmly established as a town. [9]

According to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82-1893, the kaza of Nevşehir had a total population of 39,822, consisting of 30,370 Muslims, 8,918 Greeks, 477 Armenians, 36 Catholics and 21 Protestants. [10]

Under the terms of the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations in 1923, the Turkish speaking Greek Orthodox community ( Karamanlis) of Nevşehir was exchanged for Muslims from Osheni, Shak and Revani villages of Kesriye (today's Οινόη, Κομνηνάδες and Διποταμία villages of Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece).

Aerial view over Nevşehir Castle

Economy

The economy of Nevşehir is largely characterized by agriculture as well as tourism. [11]

Nissara AVM, the main shopping centre in the city of Nevşehir

Sightseeing

In town

  • Meryem Ana Kilisesi, Mother Mary Church near Nevşehir Castle
  • The Hagios Georgios Church, also known as the 'Çanlı Church' near Nevşehir Castle
  • Green Valley - dotted with restaurants and gardens near Nar
  • Nevşehir Veterans Stadium
  • Nevşehir Football Stadium

Around town

Gallery

Climate

Nevşehir has a continental climate ( Köppen climate classification: Dsa, Trewartha climate classification: Dc), with cold, snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Precipitation occurs throughout the year, with a slight peak in spring.

Climate data for Nevşehir (1991–2020, extremes 1959–2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 10.2
(50.4)
15.0
(59.0)
22.8
(73.0)
30.0
(86.0)
32.2
(90.0)
37.4
(99.3)
41.6
(106.9)
41.2
(106.2)
37.0
(98.6)
30.6
(87.1)
22.8
(73.0)
16.0
(60.8)
41.6
(106.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 4.1
(39.4)
6.0
(42.8)
10.9
(51.6)
16.3
(61.3)
21.2
(70.2)
25.6
(78.1)
29.3
(84.7)
29.4
(84.9)
25.3
(77.5)
19.1
(66.4)
11.6
(52.9)
6.2
(43.2)
17.1
(62.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 0.0
(32.0)
1.3
(34.3)
5.5
(41.9)
10.4
(50.7)
15.0
(59.0)
18.9
(66.0)
22.2
(72.0)
22.1
(71.8)
18.1
(64.6)
12.8
(55.0)
6.3
(43.3)
2.0
(35.6)
11.2
(52.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −3.5
(25.7)
−2.6
(27.3)
1.0
(33.8)
5.2
(41.4)
9.3
(48.7)
12.3
(54.1)
14.6
(58.3)
14.5
(58.1)
11.3
(52.3)
7.4
(45.3)
2.1
(35.8)
−1.4
(29.5)
5.9
(42.6)
Record low °C (°F) −32.6
(−26.7)
−34.4
(−29.9)
−31.4
(−24.5)
−10.2
(13.6)
−2.4
(27.7)
2.2
(36.0)
3.6
(38.5)
8.0
(46.4)
0.0
(32.0)
−3.0
(26.6)
−25.8
(−14.4)
−32.0
(−25.6)
−34.4
(−29.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 43.7
(1.72)
41.8
(1.65)
47.5
(1.87)
45.7
(1.80)
57.4
(2.26)
37.5
(1.48)
9.9
(0.39)
9.6
(0.38)
13.7
(0.54)
29.4
(1.16)
33.4
(1.31)
48.4
(1.91)
418.0
(16.46)
Average precipitation days 8.80 7.83 10.27 11.33 13.40 8.40 2.40 2.37 3.83 6.93 7.10 9.30 92.0
Mean monthly sunshine hours 96.1 118.7 164.3 204.0 257.3 309.0 365.8 347.2 276.0 195.3 138.0 86.8 2,558.5
Mean daily sunshine hours 3.1 4.2 5.3 6.8 8.3 10.3 11.8 11.2 9.2 6.3 4.6 2.8 7.0
Source: Turkish State Meteorological Service [14]

Notable people

References

  1. ^ a b "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports" (XLS). TÜİK. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  2. ^ İl Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Massive Underground City Found in Cappadocia Region of Turkey". Adventure. 2015-03-26. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  4. ^ "Tarihçe | Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi".
  5. ^ "KAPADOKYA HAVALİMANI". www.dhmi.gov.tr. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  6. ^ "Not 1, but 2 high-speed train lines will pass through Nevşehir".
  7. ^ "Derinkuyu: Mysterious underground city in Turkey found in man's basement". Big Think. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  8. ^ fibhaber.com. "Nevşehir Kalesi tarihe ışık tutuyor". fibhaber.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  9. ^ "Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa". www.biyografya.com. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  10. ^ Kemal Karpat (1985), Ottoman Population, 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics, The University of Wisconsin Press, p. 142-143
  11. ^ Activities in Nevşehir
  12. ^ "Damat İbrahim Paşa Camii - Nevşehir". 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Uchisar in Cappadocia". kulturportali.gov.tr. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 2 October 2023.

External links