Adana

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This article is about a city in Turkey. For other uses, see Adana (disambiguation).
Adana
Aerial view of Adana and the Seyhan River reservoir
Aerial view of Adana and the Seyhan River reservoir
Adana is located in Turkey
Adana
Adana
Location of Adana
Coordinates: 37°0′N 35°19.28′E / 37°N 35.32133°E / 37; 35.32133
Country  Turkey
Region Mediterranean
Province Adana
Government
 - Mayor Aytaç Durak (MHP)
 - Governor İlhan ATIŞ
Area
 - Total 1,945.00 km2 (751 sq mi)
Elevation 23 m (75 ft)
Population (2007)[1]
 - Total 2,060,257, of which 1,566,027 urban
 - Density 786.76/km2 (2,037.7/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 - Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 01xxx
Area code(s) 0322
Licence plate 01
Website http://www.adana.bel.tr

Adana (see the Etymology section for the city's historic names) is the capital of the Adana Province in Turkey. The city administrates five districts: Seyhan, Yüreğir, Çukurova, Sarıçam and Karaisalı, with a total population of 2,530,257[1] and an area of 1,945 km².[2] It is the fifth most populous city of Turkey, after Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Bursa.

Contents

[edit] Location

One of the largest and most dynamic cities in Turkey, Adana is situated 30 kilometers (90 miles) inland from the Mediterranean coast, where it serves as the gateway to the Çukurova plain, which has historically been known in the West as the Cilician plain. This large stretch of flat, fertile land lies southeast of the Taurus Mountains, and is among the most agriculturally productive areas in this part of the world.

From Adana, crossing the Çukurova westwards, the road from Tarsus enters the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. The temperature decreases with every foot of ascent, as the road reaches an altitude of nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m). It goes through the famous Cilician Gates, the rocky pass through which armies have coursed since the dawn of history, and continues to the Anatolian plain.

The north of the city is surrounded by the Seyhan reservoir and HEP, which was completed in 1956. The dam was constructed for hydroelectric power (HEP) and to irrigate the lower Çukurova plain. Two irrigation channels in the city flow to the plain, passing through the city center from east to west. There is another canal for irrigating the Yüreğir plain to the southeast of the city.

[edit] Climate

Adana has a typical Mediterranean climate. Winters are warm and summers are hot and humid. Winters are about 13° to 15°C, and very humid and summers are 34° to 46°C.

 Weather averages for Adana 
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 56
(13)		 59
(15)		 65
(18)		 73
(23)		 81
(27)		 87
(31)		 91
(33)		 92
(33)		 90
(32)		 83
(28)		 69
(21)		 59
(15)		 76
(24)
Average low °F (°C) 40
(4)		 42
(6)		 46
(8)		 53
(12)		 58
(14)		 65
(18)		 71
(22)		 72
(22)		 67
(19)		 60
(16)		 50
(10)		 44
(7)		 56
(13)
Precipitation inches (mm) 4.4
(111.8)		 3.6
(91.4)		 2.7
(68.6)		 2.1
(53.3)		 1.8
(45.7)		 1.1
(27.9)		 0.2
(5.1)		 0.2
(5.1)		 0.6
(15.2)		 1.6
(40.6)		 2.7
(68.6)		 4.6
(116.8)		 25.3
(642.6)
Source: [3] {{{accessdate}}}

[edit] Etymology

Aerial view of Adana and the Seyhan River reservoir.
Aerial view of Adana and the Seyhan River reservoir.
Aerial view of Adana with the Sabancı Mosque and the Seyhan River in the background.
View of Adana from across the Seyhan River reservoir.
View of Adana from across the Seyhan River reservoir.
Taşköprü Bridge, with the Sabancı Mosque in the background, and the Hilton SA Hotel at right.
Varda railway bridge on the Taurus Mountains.
Adana Train Station.

According to numerous sources, the name Adana is derived from the Hittite URUAdaniya of Kizzuwatna,[4] while others contend that it is related to the legendary character Danaus, or to the Danaoi (Achaeans), a mythological Greek tribe. In the Iliad of Homer, the city is called Adana. In Hellenistic times, it was known as Antiochia in Cilicia (Greek: Αντιόχεια της Κιλικίας) or Antiochia ad Sarum (Greek: Αντιόχεια η προς Σάρον; "Antiochia on the Sarus"). The editors of The Helsinki Atlas tentatively identify Adana as Quwê (as contained in cuneiform tablets), the Neo-Assyrian capital of Quwê province. The name also appears as Coa, and may be the place referred to in the Bible, where King Solomon obtained horses. (I Kings 10:28; II Chron. 1:16).[5] The Armenian name of the city is Ատանա Atana.

According to an ancient Greco-Roman legend, the name has its origins in Adanus and Sarus, the two sons of Uranus, who came to a place near the Seyhan (Sarus) River, where they built Adana.

An older legend relates the city's name to Adad (also known as Tesup or Ishkur), the Thunder God in the Akkadian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Hittite mythologies, who was believed to live in the nearby forest, and whose name was given to the region. The Hittites' names and writings have been found in the area, evidencing this possibility. The theory goes that since the Thunder God brought so much rain and this rain in turn brought such great abundance in this particular region, this god was loved and respected by its inhabitants and, in his honor, the region was called the "Uru Adaniyya;" in other words "The Region of Ada."

Adana's name has had many different versions over the centuries: Adanos, Ta Adana, Uru Adaniya, Erdene, Edene, Ezene, Batana, Atana, Azana, Addane.

[edit] History

The history of Adana goes back more than 3000 years; archaeological finds in the region have revealed human settlements dating from the Paleolithic Age.

Tepebağ Tumulus, where archaeologists found a stone wall and a city center, was built in the Neolithic Age; it is considered to be the oldest city of the Cilicia region.

A place called Adana is mentioned by name in a Sumerian epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, but the geography of this work is too imprecise to identify its location.

According to the Hittite inscription of Kava, found in Hattusa (Boğazkale), Kizzuwatna was the first kingdom that ruled Adana, under the protection of the Hittites by 1335 BC. At that time, the name of the city was Uru Adaniyya, and the inhabitants were called Danuna. Beginning with the collapse of the Hittite Empire, c. 1191-1189 BC, invasions from the west caused a number of small kingdoms to take control of the plain, as follows: Kue Assyrians, 9th century BC; Cilician Kingdom, Persians, 6th century BC; Alexander the Great in 333 BC; Seleucids; the pirates of Cilicia; and Roman statesman Pompey the Great.

The history of Adana is intrinsically linked to the history of Tarsus; they often seem to be the same city, moving as the neighbouring Seyhan River changed its position, and the name changed too over the course of centuries. Adana was of relatively minor importance during the Roman period, while nearby Tarsus was the metropolis of the area. During the era of Pompey, the city was used as a prison for the pirates of Cilicia. For several centuries thereafter, it was a waystation on a Roman military road leading to the East. After the permanent split of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, the area became a part of the Byzantine Empire, and was probably developed during the time of Julian the Apostate. With the construction of large bridges, roads, government buildings, irrigation and plantation, Adana and Cilicia became the most developed and important trade centers of the region. Ayas (today Yumurtalık), and Kozan (formerly Sis) were the other major urban and administrative centers in the area, especially during the period of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

[edit] Middle Ages

In the mid 7th century, the city was captured by the Arab Abbasids. According to an Arab historian of that era, the name of the city was derived from Ezene, the prophet Yazene's grandson.

The Byzantines recaptured Adana in 964. After the victory of Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Seljuk Turks overran much of the Byzantine Empire. They had reached and captured Adana sometime before 1071 and continued to hold the place until Tancred, a leader of the First Crusade, captured the city in 1097.

In 1132, it was captured by the forces of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, under its king, Leo I. It was taken by Byzantine forces in 1137, but the Armenians regained it around 1170. In 1268 there was a terrible earthquake which destroyed much of the city. Adana was rebuilt and remained a part of the Kingdom of Cilician Armenia until around 1360, when the city was ceded by Constantine III to the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt in return for obtaining a peace treaty. The Mamluks' capture of the city allowed many Turkish families to settle in it. The Ramazanoğlu family, one of the Turkish families brought by the Mamluks, ruled Adana until the Ottomans captured the city.

[edit] Modern Era

From the end of the Renaissance to the modern era (1517–1918), the Ottoman Empire ruled the area.

In the 1830s, in order to secure Egypt's independence for the Ottoman Empire, the army of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the vali of Ottoman Egypt and Sudan, invaded Syria on two occasions, and reached the Adana plain. The subsequent peace treaty secured Egypt's independence, but (at the insistence of Great Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia) required the evacuation of all Egyptian forces from Syria, and its return to Ottoman sovereignty. In the aftermath, Adana was established as a province in its own right.

The Adana massacre occurred in Adana Province, in the Ottoman Empire, in April 1909. A religious-ethnic clash in the city of Adana amidst governmental upheaval resulted in a series of anti-Armenian pogroms throughout the district. Reports estimated that the massacres in Adana Province resulted in 15,000 to 30,000 deaths. In 1915 Turkish troops rounded up all Armenians living in Adana and marched them out into the Syrian dessert in the course of the Armenian Genocide, resulting in the complete eradication of the Armenian communities in and around the city.

After World War I, the Ottoman government surrendered control of the city to French troops, and the French Armenian Legion was sent to occupy Adana. During the Turkish War of Independence, Adana was strategically important. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk came to the city on October 31, 1918, and stayed there for eleven days. As a result, he decided to fight against the Allies, and the idea of Kuvayi Milliye was born.

Turkish nationalists fought against the Allied forces, and on October 20, 1921, the Treaty of Ankara was signed between France and the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Based on the terms of the agreement, France recognized the end of the Cilicia War, and French troops together with the Armenian volunteers withdrew from the city on January 5, 1922.[6]

On 30 January 1943, British prime minister Winston Churchill secretly met with Turkish president İsmet İnönü inside a train wagon at the Yenice Station, 23 kilometres outside of Adana. Churchill wanted Turkey to join the Second World War on the side of the Allies; the details of which were later discussed at the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943, which was attended by İnönü, Churchill and Roosevelt.

[edit] Chronology

[edit] Adana today

Adana has become a thriving metropolis. It is the marketing and distribution center for the Çukurova agricultural region, where cotton, wheat, corn, soy bean, barley, grapes and citrus fruits are produced in great quantities. The main industries of the city are textile manufacturing, leather tanning, and wool processing. Adana was named among the 25 European Regions of the Future for 2006/2007 by Foreign Direct Investment Magazine. Chosen alongside Kocaeli for Turkey, Adana scored the highest points for cost effectiveness against Kocaeli's points for infrastructure development, while Adana and Kocaeli tied on points for the categories of human resources and quality of life.[7]

Mr. Aytaç Durak has been the mayor of Adana for two terms: 1984 - 1989, and 1994 - present. The city of Adana today is administered by three district council authorities: Seyhan, Yüreğir, and Karaisalı. Seyhan is the more developed part of the city on the west bank of the Seyhan River, whereas Yüreğir is located on the east bank. Karaisalı is best-known for growing myrtle berries (myrtus communis).

The city is also famous for its cuisine, including the Adana kebab; şalgam, a salty fermented juice made from turnips; Şırdan a kind of home-made sausage stuffed with rice, and eaten with cumin; paça, boiled sheep's feet; bicibici (pronounced as bee-jee-bee-jee) made from diced semolina, rose water and sugar, and served with crushed ice, consumed especially in summer time. Furthermore, the city has a number of famous desserts, such as Halka Tatlı, a round-shaped dessert, and Taş Kadayıf, a bow-shaped dessert. Several types of fruit, including the apricot, are native to this area.

The houses in Adana have flat tops, and the roofs serve as bedrooms for the inhabitants during the hot summers.

NATO's Incirlik Air Base is located in the nearby town of İncirlik, 12 km (7 mi) east of Adana. Shopping in Adana benefits from the 'American bazaar', a street market selling new and second-hand goods that have seeped out of the Incirlik Air Base.

[edit] Sightseeing

  • Taşköprü (Stone Bridge), built in part during the 6th century reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinianus I.
  • Yılanlı Kale (Snakes Castle), the ruins of a castle dating from 782.
  • Büyük Saat Kulesi (The Great Clock Tower), a large clock tower that was built by the local governor of Adana in 1882. Unfortunately, it was damaged during the French occupation, but it was rebuilt in 1935, and its image can be found in the city's coat of arms. There are many historical buildings and tombs of local governors next to the Büyük Saat.
  • Kazancılar Çarşısı (Bazaar of Kazancilar), founded around the Büyük Saat, where the Çarşı Hamamı (Turkish Bath of the Bazaar), a Turkish bath built in 1519, can be found.
  • Bebekli Kilise (Saint Paul Catholic Church) is an old Catholic church located in the city center. There are many historic houses in the street where the church is located.
  • Seyhan Dam
  • Love Island
  • Central Park
  • Ramazanoğlu Palace
  • Adana Aquapark
  • Ethnographical Museum of Adana
  • The Archaeological Museum of Adana
  • Varda (German) Bridge, a historic railway bridge in Karaisalı, which is a district of Adana. The railway bridge is at the vicinity of the Hacıkırı village. It was built in 1903 by the Germans, so people also call it the German Bridge.

[edit] Mosques

The Sabancı Mosque.
  • Ulu Cami
  • Yeni Cami (New Mosque)
  • Yağ Camii (Old Catholic Church)
  • Merkez Cami (Central Mosque)
  • Alemdar Mescidi
  • Şeyh Zülfi Mescidi
  • Kızıldağ Ramazanoğlu Mosque

[edit] Museums

  • Adana Ethnography Museum
  • Adana Archaeological Museum
  • Adana Atatürk Museum
  • Misis Mosaic Museum

[edit] Turkish Baths

  • Irmak Bath
  • Mestenzade Bath
  • Yeni Bath
  • Carşı Bath
  • Yeni Sauna

[edit] Festivals

[edit] Education

[edit] Transport

[edit] Railway

[edit] Airport

[edit] Metro

[edit] Rent a Car

[edit] Sports and Athletics

There is a race-track and also two well-known football teams:

[edit] Notable natives

[edit] Sister Cities

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Türkiye istatistik kurumu Address-based population survey 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  2. ^ Statoids, Districts of Turkey Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  3. ^ weatherbase.com
  4. ^ See, e.g., Sirekli Archaeological Project.
  5. ^ Innvista - Horses from Egypt and Kue
  6. ^ Cilicia in the years 1918-1923
  7. ^ "European Regions of the Future". Foreign Direct Investment Magazine. http://www.fdimagazine.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1544/EUROPEAN_CITIES___REGIONS_OF_THE_FUTURE_2006_07.html. 
  8. ^ Córdoba, Spain

[edit] Other sources

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[edit] External links

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