Sivas, Turkey Tourism

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Kizilirmak, it is an important road and railroad junction. Cotton and metalworking are the main sources of employment.

History

Little is known of the town's early history. Excavations have unearthed the remains of a Hittite settlement. The town grew under Pompeius with the name of Megalopolis. The Emperor Justinian built strong walls and elevated it to capital of Armenia Prima province, although the young Christian community here was then subjected to persecution by the Romans. The town came to prominence in this context when in A.D. 320, 40 soldiers from the 12th "Fulminata" legion were driven naked into the ice-cold Kizilirmak because of their beliefs. The "40 martyrs of Sebastea" thus became a part of religious history with March 10th as the anniversary. Sivas experienced a revival under the Seljuks in the 12th/13th century When the Mongols invaded around 1400, Sivas enjoyed the protection of a strong wall, but nevertheless Timur-Leng succeeded in taking the town after an eighteen-day siege. Christians (Greeks and Armenians) were murdered or sold as slaves. It was many years before Sivas recovered from this blow. In 1808, there were 16,000 inhabitants but trade and commerce did not equal the levels achieved during the city's heyday. However the foundation of the Turkish Republic gave Sivas a place in history as Mustafa Kemal Pasa (Atatürk) summoned the National Congress of the Freedom Movement (fourth-11th September 1919) here to call for national unity.