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Ürgüp

Coordinates: 38°37′53″N 34°54′47″E / 38.63139°N 34.91306°E / 38.63139; 34.91306
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Ürgüp
District
Hotels built inside cave-houses in Ürgüp
Hotels built inside cave-houses in Ürgüp
Official logo of Ürgüp
Emblem of Ürgüp Municipality
Map
Map of Ürgüp
Ürgüp is located in Turkey
Ürgüp
Ürgüp
Location of Ürgüp within Turkey
Coordinates: 38°37′53″N 34°54′47″E / 38.63139°N 34.91306°E / 38.63139; 34.91306
Country Turkey
RegionCentral Anatolia
ProvinceNevşehir
Government
 • GovernorMehmet Maraşlı
 • MayorMehmet Aktürk (AKP)
Area
[1]
 • District562.85 km2 (217.32 sq mi)
Elevation
1,043 m (3,422 ft)
Population
 (Template:Turkey district populations)Template:Turkey district populations
 • Urban
Template:Turkey district populations
 • District
Template:Turkey district populations
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
50xxx
Area code0384
Vehicle registration50
ClimateCsb
Websitewww.urgup.gov.tr

Ürgüp (Template:Lang-el Prokópio,[2] or Cappadocian Greek: Προκόπι Prokópi, Template:Lang-ota) is a town and district in Nevşehir province in the Cappadocia area of Central Anatolia, Turkey. The population of the town was 20,500 in 2011. [3] The district covers an area of 563 km2 (217 sq mi),[4] and the town lies at an average elevation of 1,043 m (3,422 ft).

As elsewhere in Cappadocia, the centre of Ürgüp is full of lovely old stone houses clustered around a central rock formation, in this case Temenni Tepesi (Temenni Hill, Wish Hill).[5]

Ürgüp got into the boutique-hotel movement early and as a result has a flourishing tourism industry, in part because it has more of he amenities of a town than other Cappadocian destinations. It makes a good base for visiting all the main attractions of Cappadocia, including the rock-cut churches and the underground cities.

As well as tourism, Ürgüp has a thriving wine-growing industry. It also provided the setting for many episodes of the popular television series, Asmalı Konak which aired from 2002 to 2004 and was credited with kickstarting domestic tourism to Cappadocia.

Ürgüp features briefly in Philip Glazebrook's travelogue, A Journey to Kars, when he is forced to extend his stay there due to 1980 census-taking which decreed that no one could go anywhere and no transport was operating. [6]

History

The original occupation of the site of Prokopi/Ürgüp probably dates back to Hittite times although there is no longer anything to show for that today. A few tombs left from a necropolis serve as evidence of Roman occupation.[3] Of Byzantine occupation there are also only scant traces, mainly of the Church of St Procopius, the saint after whom the town was originally named.[3]

More evidence survives of the Selçuk presence here, especially in the form of the hexagonal Altı Kapılar (Six Gates) tomb of a military commander in the town centre. [3] A symbolic tomb (1863) on top of Temenni Hill commemorates the Selçuk leader Ruknettin Kılıçarslan IV who was killed while in Ürgüp. [3]

In late Ottoman times Prokopi/Ürgüp was home to a mixed population of Turks and Christians; according to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82–1893, the kaza of Ürgüp had a total population of 23,030, consisting of 19,880 Muslims, 3,134 Greeks and 16 Armenians.[7] It was during this period that most of the town centre's grand stone houses, many of them now converted into hotels, were built. Some of these houses still contain fine secular frescoes attesting to the fact that they were designed for members of the minority populations. The Sucuoğlu Konağı (Mansion) is visible to those prepared to poke around in the ruinous properties - one of its walls is decorated with scenes of a Zeppelin and a hot-air balloon flying over Constantinople/Istanbul. [3]

It was also in the 19th century that a huge church was built to honour St John the Russian. It was demolished in the 1950s and a girls school built on the site; its memory lives on only in photographs. [3]What is now the Şehir Hamamı (City Hamam) is housed inside what was once another Greek Orthodox church in the then Gavur Mahallesi (Infidel Neighbourhood).[3]

In 1924 the Greeks of Prokopi were forced to leave Turkey under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. When they left they took the relics of St John the Russian with them to their new home on the island of Euboea in Greece where murals on a church wall now depict the journey from Cappadocia..[8]Other Greeks from Prokopi settled in Larissa in Greece.

Local Attractions

There is a small local museum inside the park in the centre of Ürgüp.

Uphill from the Hotel Surban, the renowned Turasan Winery supplies 60% of Cappadocia's wines and offers free tours and tastings in its rock-carved wine cellar.[9]

On the outskirts of Ürgüp, heading towards Göreme, a group of striking fairy chimneys to the right of the road are sometimes called 'The Family' or the 'Three Sisters'.[3]

Notable natives

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Turkey

Twin towns – sister cities

Ürgüp is twinned with:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  2. ^ Rodley, Lyn (2010). Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia. Cambridge University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-521-15477-2. ..medieval place names in the region that can be established are known only from scant references: one Elpidios, Memorophylax of Prokopios, who attended the Council of Chalcedon (451), may have come from Hagios Prokopios (now Urgup, but still called 'Prokopion' by the local Greek population in the early years of this century)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Yale, Pat. "ÜRGÜP".
  4. ^ Statoids. "Statistical information on districts of Turkey". Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  5. ^ Dillard, Duke (17 January 2013). "Capturing the Heart of Cappadocia".
  6. ^ Glazebrook, Philip (1985). A Journey to Kars (1st ed.). London: Penguin. pp. 94–103.
  7. ^ Kemal Karpat (1985), Ottoman Population, 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics, The University of Wisconsin Press, p. 142–143
  8. ^ "St. John the Russian: The Saint of Kayakapi | Kayakapi Premium Caves - Cappadocia | Luxury Boutique Cave Hotel".
  9. ^ "Urgup - Premium Travel".
  10. ^ a b "Twinnings" (PDF). Central Union of Municipalities & Communities of Greece. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ürgüp.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ürgüp.


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