Aksaray Attractions
Central Anatolia (Tuz-Gölü basin)
This medium-sized town in its horticultural oasis is a provincial capital. Situated on the banks of the Melendiz Suyu, below the step-fault marking the eastern edge of the Tuz-Gölü basin, Aksaray is dominated by the great volcanic pyramid and twin peaks of Hasan Dag (Büyük Hasan Dag 3,268m/10,725ft, Küçük Hasan Dag 3,069m/10,072ft) and the bulky volcanic massif of Melendiz Dag (2,963m/9,725ft). With the famous Cappadocian tuff cone region only a short distance away, Aksaray has attracted little attention, apart from its automotive industry.
History
In antiquity the town was called Garsaura. Many historians equate it with the even more ancient oriental town of Kursaura whose ruler is believed to have been a party to an alliance in the third millennium B.C. against the Accadian King Naramsis. Following rebuilding the town was renamed Archelais by the Cappadocian King Archelaos. It came to enjoy considerable status as a frontier fortress against Lycaonia and a crossroads between Ephesus and the middle reaches of the Euphrates on the one hand and Ankara and Tyana (near Nigde) on the other.
During the Rum Sultanate (from the 11th century) the Seljuk Sultan Kiliç Arslan II (1156-88) built a castle here, where Henry the Lion was fêted while returning home from a pilgrimage. Among the gifts lavished upon him were 30 magnificent horses with silver bridles (specially picked from among the 1800 in the Sultan's stables), six dromedaries, two leopards and six tents. In the 13th century the town fell to the Mongols before passing in the 14th century to the Karamanlidhes. The Ottomans resettled part of the population in Istanbul, hence that city's Aksaray district.
This medium-sized town in its horticultural oasis is a provincial capital. Situated on the banks of the Melendiz Suyu, below the step-fault marking the eastern edge of the Tuz-Gölü basin, Aksaray is dominated by the great volcanic pyramid and twin peaks of Hasan Dag (Büyük Hasan Dag 3,268m/10,725ft, Küçük Hasan Dag 3,069m/10,072ft) and the bulky volcanic massif of Melendiz Dag (2,963m/9,725ft). With the famous Cappadocian tuff cone region only a short distance away, Aksaray has attracted little attention, apart from its automotive industry.
History
In antiquity the town was called Garsaura. Many historians equate it with the even more ancient oriental town of Kursaura whose ruler is believed to have been a party to an alliance in the third millennium B.C. against the Accadian King Naramsis. Following rebuilding the town was renamed Archelais by the Cappadocian King Archelaos. It came to enjoy considerable status as a frontier fortress against Lycaonia and a crossroads between Ephesus and the middle reaches of the Euphrates on the one hand and Ankara and Tyana (near Nigde) on the other.
During the Rum Sultanate (from the 11th century) the Seljuk Sultan Kiliç Arslan II (1156-88) built a castle here, where Henry the Lion was fêted while returning home from a pilgrimage. Among the gifts lavished upon him were 30 magnificent horses with silver bridles (specially picked from among the 1800 in the Sultan's stables), six dromedaries, two leopards and six tents. In the 13th century the town fell to the Mongols before passing in the 14th century to the Karamanlidhes. The Ottomans resettled part of the population in Istanbul, hence that city's Aksaray district.
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Peristrema Valley
The Peristrema Valley is known for the Melendiz Suyu gorge, and dramatic cliffs with dozens of Byzantine rock-cut monasteries.
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Sultanhani
The Sultanhani was built in the 13th C at the direction of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I. This huge walled complex covers more than 4,866 sq.m / 52,377sq.ft.
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Aizikarahan
Aizikarahan is noted as an important ancient caravanserai and dates from the early 13th C.
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Belisirma, Turkey
(Near Aksaray)
Belisirma is known for its numerous churches which contain a collection of post-iconoclastic paintings.
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Ihlara, Turkey
(Near Aksaray)
Located near the village of Ihlara is an assortment of churches hewn from rock in the Cappadocian-style containing artwork from the 8th and 9th C.
Akhisar, Turkey
(Near Aksaray)
A Byzantine fort on top of a steep cliff stands guard over the village of Akhisar about 12km/7.5mi southeast of Aksaray. Of the various rock-cut churches in the neighborhood, the 10th-11th century Canli Kilise (Bell Tower Church, several phases of construction), 7km/4mi or so east of the village, gives the best idea of how the wall-paintings must once have looked. It is a Byzantine church with a two-storyed narthex and three apses arranged around a central chamber.
Gelveri, Turkey
(Near Aksaray)
Up until 1921/22 there remained a considerable Greek minority in Gelveri, a village also known as Sivrihisar Geçidi (Sivrihisar Pass). As a result several well preserved churches have survived. One of them, below a cliff honeycombed with rock sanctuaries, was dedicated to Saint Gregory of Nazianz, reputedly born here in 328. It was converted to a mosque in 1896. Enthroned on a rock pyramid southwest of the village is a handsome monastery, the Yüksek Kilise (High Church).
Helvadere, Turkey
(Near Aksaray)
South of the village of Helvadere (Valley of Turkish Honey), at the northern foot of Hasan Dag about 45km/28mi southeast of Aksaray, the ruins of a monastery lie hidden in a volcanic crater, access to which is via a narrow cleft in the rock. Known as "Viransehir" (Destroyed City), there are other remains also, including those of a Byzantine fortress and two fine churches - the Kara Kilise (Black Church), a single-aisled basilica, and the cruciform Kemerli Kilise (Arcaded Church) constructed out of uniform blocks of trachyte.
Ibrahim Kadiroglu Medresesi Koranic school
The Ibrahim Kadiroglu Medresesi Koranic school in Aksaray, built by the Seljuks in the 12th/13th century was restored in the mid 15th century by the Karamanlidhes. A ruined Seljuk fortress dominates the town.
Kizil Minare Minaret
The Kizil Minare minaret (also called Egri Minare) in Aksaray, decorated with fine tiles, dates from the Seljuk period. Unfortunately its mosque, the Kiliç Arslan II Mosque, has not survived.
Ulu Cami
The stone-vaulted Ulu Cami in the center of Aksaray, built by the Karamanlidhes between 1433 and 1435, boasts an exceptionally fine carved Seljuk staircase pulpit from the Kiliç Arslan II Mosque.
Zinciriye Medresesi Koranic School
The Zinciriye Medresesi Koranic school (with a beautiful portal), built by the local Karamanlis dynasty between 1336 and 1345, houses a small museum.
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