Seyitgazi is a municipality and
district of
Eskişehir Province,
Turkey.[2] Its area is 1,578 km2,[3] and its population is 12,587 (2022).[1] The central town of Seyitgazi lies at a distance of 43 km (27 mi) towards the south from the province capital of
Eskişehir. The town was known formerly as
Nakoleia.
The town occupies the site of the
Byzantine city of Nakoleia which is attested from Roman times.
After the town was conquered by the Seljuk Turks, it was known as Kala'-i-Mashihya, the Christian Castle.[4] During that time the old
monastic centre dedicated to the
archangelMichael was converted into a
shrine to the 8th-century Muslim saint (seyyid) and warrior
Battal Gazi, who allegedly fell in a
battle nearby in 740.[5] The town was eventually
renamed after Battal Gazi.
A
complex (
Turkish: külliye) dedicated to Battal Gazi and containing his tomb, a mosque, a
medrese, cells and ceremonial rooms for
dervishes as well as charitable services for the community such as kitchens and a bakery were built in 1208 on a hill overlooking the town by Ümmühan Hatun, wife of the
Seljuk sultanGıyaseddin Keyhüsrev I and further extended in 1511 by the
Ottoman sultan
Bayezid II. The shrine and the adjoining complex remain popular with local as well as foreign visitors.
Archaeological discoveries
In August 2019, researchers headed by Prof. Murat Türkteki announced the discovery of two skeletons dating back about 5,000 years in the same sarcophagus in Early Bronze Age settlement Küllüoba. Excavators assumed that one of the skeletons was a 13-year-old girl and other was a man in his late 30s.[6][7][8]
In August 2020, archaeologists headed by Prof. Murat Türktaki revealed a 5,000-year-old paint palette made of stone in the Seyitgazi district at the Küllüoba site. According to Türktaki, this palette was used for painting dishes.[9][10]
In March 2021, construction workers found a
marblesarcophagus which is 1.5 meters long and 33 centimetres wide in the Seyitgazi district at the Küllüoba site.[11][12][13]