Aksehir Attractions
West Anatolian highland
Situated at the mouth of a high-lying valley beneath the peaks of Sultan Dagi, this busy town, the principal one of its district, stands a short distance south of Aksehir Gölü on the northern edge of the Isaurian-Pisidian lake district, where the West Taurus mountains give way inland to the Inner Anatolian steppes. The town enjoys a reputation for its carpets and leather goods and was quite important in earlier days as a halt on the long distance route from Konya to Istanbul.
History
Aksehir, founded in the third century B.C. as Philomelion by the Macedonian prince Philomelos, was an important Phrygian town which later passed to Pisidia under Diocletian. It was here in 51 B.C. that Cicero meted out justice to the mutinous Roman cohorts and where, in 1403, Bayazit I, though later buried in Bursa, died a prisoner of the Mongols following his defeat by Tamerlane at the Battle of Ankara in 1402. For a long time the Mongols kept their notable prisoner - scourge of the East and the man who destroyed the Byzantine army at Nikopolis, holding numerous Byzantine noblemen captive in Bursa - confined in a cage-like litter in which they transported him about with their army. In 1190, while on the Third Crusade, the Emperor Friedrich I (Barbarossa) journeyed across country from Dinar to Aksehir, passing north of Lake Egridir. Enduring great hardship he made his way to Ladik, Konya, Karaman and then Silifke where he drowned in the Göksu Nehri.
Nasrettin Hoca the Turkish Eulenspiegel, born in about 1208, spent his working life in Aksehir, dying there in 1284/85.
Situated at the mouth of a high-lying valley beneath the peaks of Sultan Dagi, this busy town, the principal one of its district, stands a short distance south of Aksehir Gölü on the northern edge of the Isaurian-Pisidian lake district, where the West Taurus mountains give way inland to the Inner Anatolian steppes. The town enjoys a reputation for its carpets and leather goods and was quite important in earlier days as a halt on the long distance route from Konya to Istanbul.
History
Aksehir, founded in the third century B.C. as Philomelion by the Macedonian prince Philomelos, was an important Phrygian town which later passed to Pisidia under Diocletian. It was here in 51 B.C. that Cicero meted out justice to the mutinous Roman cohorts and where, in 1403, Bayazit I, though later buried in Bursa, died a prisoner of the Mongols following his defeat by Tamerlane at the Battle of Ankara in 1402. For a long time the Mongols kept their notable prisoner - scourge of the East and the man who destroyed the Byzantine army at Nikopolis, holding numerous Byzantine noblemen captive in Bursa - confined in a cage-like litter in which they transported him about with their army. In 1190, while on the Third Crusade, the Emperor Friedrich I (Barbarossa) journeyed across country from Dinar to Aksehir, passing north of Lake Egridir. Enduring great hardship he made his way to Ladik, Konya, Karaman and then Silifke where he drowned in the Göksu Nehri.
Nasrettin Hoca the Turkish Eulenspiegel, born in about 1208, spent his working life in Aksehir, dying there in 1284/85.
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Nasrettin Hoca Türbesi
The Nasrettin Hoca Türbesi is the gravesite of the famous Turkish humorist who lived in the 13th C but whose work still resonates today.
Aksehir Museum
The Koranic school in Aksehir, erected in 1216 by Sahib Ata using materials of more ancient origin, has an interesting gateway, two Byzantine colonnades in the inner courtyard and a Seljuk minaret of brick and fragments of tiles. Conversion of the building to a museum began in about 1986.
Aksehir and Eber Gölü
The inland drainage system around Aksehir feeds twin lakes, Eber Gölü and Aksehir Gölü, the two being separated by a low sill and connected by a canal-like channel. When water levels rise, the slightly more elevated Eber Gölü overflows into the lower-lying Aksehir Gölü. With their extensive reed beds almost completely covering Eber Gölü and their abundance of nutrients, both provide ideal habitats for large numbers of reptiles, amphibians and birds.
Seygit Mahmut Hayrani Türbesi
In the southern part of Aksehir is the tomb of the mystic Seygit Mahmut. The octagonal mausoleum, built in 1224, was altered in 1409/10. Nearby is a small prayer mosque constructed from ancient stone.
