The history and name origins of 92 cities in Türkiye; a new city every week.
AlaçatıAyvalıkBeypazarıGöynükHarran Nerede? Kubbeli EvlerHasankeyf son haliİstanbul’unAdanaAdıyamanAfyonkarahisarAğrıAksarayAmasyaAnkaraAntalyaArdahanArtvinAydınBalıkesirBartınBatmanBayburtBilecikBingölBitlisBoluBurdurBursaÇanakkaleÇankırıÇorumDenizliDiyarbakırDüzceEdirneElazığErzincanErzurumEskişehirGaziantepGiresunGümüşhaneHakkâriHatayIğdırIspartaİstanbulİzmirKahramanmaraşKarabükKaramanKarsKastamonuKayseriKilisKırıkkaleKırklareliKırşehirKocaeliKonyaKütahyaMalatyaManisaMardinMersinMuğlaMuşNevşehirNiğdeOrduOsmaniyeRizeSakaryaSamsunŞanlıurfaSiirtSinopSivasŞırnakTekirdağTokatTrabzonTunceliUşakVanYalovaYozgatZonguldakMidyatSafranboluŞirince KöyüUçhisar Kalesi
AlaçatıAlaçatı’s stone houses, hilltop windmills and former church preserve different parts of its architectural…AyvalıkAyvalık’s Greek houses, churches and coastal factories connect its island setting with an economy…BeypazarıAbout 100 kilometres northwest of Ankara, Beypazarı preserves traditional houses around a historic trading…GöynükGöynük brings together Akşemseddin’s legacy, a mosque and bath dated to 1331–1335, and traditional…Harran Nerede? Kubbeli EvlerHarran lies about 45 km southeast of Şanlıurfa. It combines caravan-road history, a moon-god…Hasankeyf son haliHasankeyf is a Tigris town in Batman province whose "12,000 years" rests on a…İstanbul’unThe Historic Areas of Istanbul comprise four UNESCO zones in Fatih, inscribed in 1985.…AdanaAdana's name is linked to Adaniya, a city in Kizzuwatna that appears in Hittite…AdıyamanAdıyaman’s history connects Commagene’s royal monuments, Roman bridges, historic mosques, and a market selling…AfyonkarahisarAfyonkarahisar's name combines poppy farming, a fortress on a dark volcanic rock and the…AğrıAğrı takes its present name from Ağrı Dağı, while explanations of the name’s linguistic…AksarayAksaray sits where the Melendiz Creek reaches the plain, and people have lived nearby…AmasyaAmasya sits in a narrow valley cut by the Yeşilırmak. Its story runs from…AnkaraAnkara has been called Ankyra, Ankras, Angora, Engürü and Engüriye, and the stories about…AntalyaAntalya takes its name from Attaleia, a city founded in the 2nd century BC…ArdahanArdahan has been settled since the Early Bronze Age. It later passed through Georgian,…ArtvinArtvin grew as a road and river junction in the Çoruh Valley, passed through…▶ WatchAydınAydın grew from the ancient city of Tralleis and later carried the Turkish-era name…▶ WatchBalıkesirBalıkesir sits in northwest Anatolia, in the ancient region of Mysia, and became a…▶ WatchBartınBartın's name is linked to the ancient Parthenios River and the settlement name Parthenia.…BatmanModern Batman grew from the village of İluh after oil was found in 1940,…BayburtBayburt sits on the Çoruh River and grew along the Tabriz–Trabzon trade road before…BilecikBilecik's story starts with a Neolithic settlement dated to about 7100–6000 BCE and runs…▶ WatchBingölBingöl takes its name from Bingöl Mountain, while the older name Çapakçur has competing…▶ WatchBitlisBitlis developed in a narrow mountain valley on a caravan route linking al-Jazira with…BoluBolu’s history connects ancient Bithynium and Claudiopolis with Ottoman mosques, baths, inns and the…BurdurBurdur’s past stretches from prehistoric settlements to a city reshaped by earthquakes, rebuilding and…BursaBursa takes its name from ancient Prusa, a city tied to the Bithynian king…ÇanakkaleÇanakkale's story runs from a fishing community near Ayvacık around 6000 BC to the…ÇankırıÇankırı’s name developed from ancient Gangra through forms including Kengırı and Kângırı. Its castle,…ÇorumÇorum sits on land that people have lived on since the 6th millennium BCE.…DenizliDenizli's story runs from the prehistoric layers of Beycesultan to the ancient city of…DiyarbakırDiyarbakır sits on a plateau above the Tigris. Its story runs from Neolithic Çayönü…DüzceModern Düzce grew around a rural market and developed in the nineteenth century, while…EdirneEdirne's name comes from Hadrianopolis, the city named for the Roman Emperor Hadrian, and…ElazığModern Elazığ grew out of historic Harput after residents began moving to the plain…ErzincanErzincan's settlement history reaches back to the 3rd millennium BC, and its name is…ErzurumErzurum's name grew out of the old settlement of Erzen and the forms Erzen-i…EskişehirEskişehir's story runs from the ancient city of Dorylaion at Şarhöyük to the Seljuk…GaziantepGaziantep's story runs from a 6,000-year-old castle mound and the Euphrates crossing of Zeugma…GiresunGiresun takes its name from ancient Kerasus, although explanations involving cherries, a horn, or…GümüşhaneGümüşhane takes its name from silver, the resource that shaped settlement around Canca and…HakkâriHakkâri once named a mountain region extending beyond the present province, while the city…HatayHatay's story runs from Paleolithic settlement through the Seleucid foundation of Antakya in 300…IğdırIğdır's name is linked to the Igdir clan of the Oguz Turks, while its…IspartaIsparta’s history brings together prehistoric finds, disputed medieval dates, Ottoman market buildings and traditional…İstanbulİstanbul's settlement history reaches back to about 6500 BCE, and the Greek colony of…İzmirİzmir's settlement history reaches back about 8,500 years to Yeşilova Mound, and its name…KahramanmaraşKahramanmaraş's name goes back to Markasi, a place named in Assyrian sources. The city…KarabükKarabük’s name is linked to dark riverside vegetation or a bend where two streams…KaramanKaraman takes its present name from Karaman Bey, founder of the Karamanoğulları principality, while…KarsKars is a border city that passed from the Bagratids to the Saltuks, the…KastamonuKastamonu has traces of human life from the Paleolithic age, but the exact founding…KayseriKayseri's name comes from the Latin Caesarea and Greek Kaisareia, passed into Turkish through…KilisKilis grew from the ancient settlement layers of Oylum Höyük into an Ottoman town…KırıkkaleModern Kırıkkale grew around factories whose foundations were laid in 1925, but its name…KırklareliKırklareli's story runs from farming villages dated to 6200 BCE through Byzantine, Ottoman and…KırşehirKırşehir’s name comes from a Turkish expression describing a settlement in the steppe, while…KocaeliKocaeli takes its name from "Koca-ili", the homeland of the Ottoman frontier lord Akçakoca,…KonyaKonya appears in ancient sources as Ikonion or Ikonium and in Islamic geography as…KütahyaKütahya takes its name from the ancient town of Kotiaeion, usually explained as the…MalatyaMalatya's name appears as Melita, Maldia, Melid and Melitene in ancient records, and one…ManisaManisa's name comes from ancient Magnesia, which Turkish speakers gradually reshaped into Mağnisiye, Mağnisa…MardinMardin sits on a ridge about 1000–1100 metres above sea level, looking over the…MersinMersin is a Mediterranean port city in southern Türkiye. The region has been settled…MuğlaMuğla's name comes from the ancient Mobolla, recorded on a 2nd-century BC inscription and…MuşMuş brings together Urartian remains, medieval monuments and Ottoman buildings, while its name appears…NevşehirNevşehir took its name, meaning “newly founded city,” from the building and resettlement work…NiğdeNiğde’s history connects early farming communities, tin mining, Roman waterworks and medieval monuments. Its…OrduOrdu’s history connects ancient Kotyora, the Hacıemiroğulları center around Eskipazar, and the coastal settlement…OsmaniyeOsmaniye takes its name from Hacı Osmanlı, the village selected as the center of…RizeKnown in ancient written sources as Rhizus, Rize has several proposed name origins involving…SakaryaSakarya's story runs from ancient Bithynia and Persian rule through a Byzantine bridge, Ottoman…SamsunSamsun's story runs from the prehistoric settlement of İkiztepe to ancient Amisos, medieval Samsun…ŞanlıurfaŞanlıurfa's story runs from the monumental structures of Göbeklitepe through Edessa, the Islamic conquest,…SiirtSiirt’s name has several proposed origins, while its historical spellings preserve different forms of…SinopSinop is a Black Sea port whose ancient name, Sinope, is tied to myths…SivasSivas takes its name from the Roman-era Sebasteia, and its story runs from Chalcolithic…ŞırnakŞırnak’s history connects a city at a road junction with older settlements across the…TekirdağTekirdağ is a Marmara port town whose names include Rhaidestos, Rodosto, Rodosçuk and Tekfurdağı.…TokatTokat’s surrounding area has a settlement history reaching back to the Chalcolithic period, while…TrabzonTrabzon appears in writing as Trapezus around 400 BC, and the most common theory…TunceliTunceli the city is a Republic-era founding, but settlement around it goes back to…UşakUşak’s settlement history reaches back to the fourth millennium BC, while its monuments preserve…VanVan sits between Lake Van and the Iranian border, and its fortress mound holds…YalovaYalova's story runs from ancient Bithynia and Roman rule through Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman…YozgatYozgat was a small village in 1529–1530, while archaeological sites across its province preserve…ZonguldakModern Zonguldak developed around coal mining and became a province on 1 April 1924,…▶ WatchMidyatMidyat stands at the centre of Tur Abdin, where local limestone houses and Syriac…SafranboluSafranbolu’s Ottoman houses, caravan buildings and craft markets reflect a town shaped by east–west…Şirince KöyüŞirince’s churches, traditional houses and agricultural history preserve traces of an Ottoman Greek Orthodox…Uçhisar KalesiUçhisar Castle is a natural rock formation carved into rooms, passages and living spaces…