The provincial capital of Manisa (pop. 158,000) lies 40km/25mi northeast of Izmir at the foot of Manisa Dagi (the ancient Mount Sipylos; 1,517m/4,977ft), the highest peak in the Manisa range. Manisa has a number of notable mosques but is also worth visiting for its picturesque location on the slopes of a hill. The houses with their typical light
-colored hipped roofs and the minarets which soar up between them make this old Ottoman town into a major attraction. Of the origins of the town, which was known in antiquity as Magnesia on the Sipylos to distinguish it from Magnesia on the Maeander, nothing is known. The Akpinar relief suggests that the region was under the influence of the Hittite Empire after 1400 B.C.
The two principal mosques are the Great Mosque (Ulu Cami), built in 1366, which has antique columns with Byzantine capitals supporting the arcading round its courtyard and the Murat Mosque (Muradiye Camii; 1583-1586), now a museum, which is surrounded by an almshouse, a library and a former medrese (theological college).
Near the two mosques stands the Sultan's Mosque (Sultan Camii; 1552), with a medrese and a hospital.
On the hill of Sandik Tepesi, to the south of the town, the walls of the old citadel are still visible. Three circuits of walls can be distinguished. The outermost ring dates from the time of the Byzantine Emperor John III (1222-54). The upper ring must be built on the foundations of the ancient acropolis, of which nothing remains. (third century B.C. statue now in the Archeological Museum, Istanbul).
The top of the hill offers fine views over the town and the plain of Gediz.
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