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Sivas

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Sivas
Location of Sivas within Turkey.
Location of Sivas within Turkey.
Country Turkey
RegionCentral Anatolia
ProvinceSivas
Government
 • MayorDoğan Ürgüp (BBP)
Elevation
1,285 m (4,216 ft)
Population
 (2009)
 • Total300,795
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
58XXX
Area code(+90) 346
Licence plate58
Websitewww.sivas.bel.tr

Sivas (Template:Lang-el, Template:Lang-hy) the late-Classical and Medieval Sebastia, sometimes spelt Sebastea or Sebasteia) is the provincial capital of Sivas Province in Turkey. According to the 2007 Turkish census, its population was 300,795.

The city, which lies at an elevation of 4,193 feet (1,278 metres) in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is a moderately-sized trade center and industrial city, although the economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. Rail repair shops and a thriving manufacturing industry of rugs, bricks, cement, and cotton and woolen textiles are form the mainstays of the city's economy. The surrounding region is a cereal-producing area with large deposits of iron ore which are worked at Divriği.

Sivas is also a communications hub for the north-south and east-west trade routes to Iraq and Iran, respectively. With the development of railways, the city gained new economic importance as junction of important rail lines linking the cities of Kayseri, Samsun, and Erzurum. The city is linked by air to Istanbul.

History

Ancient and medieval

Excavations at a mound known as Topraktepe indicate Hittite settlement in the area, though little is known of Sivas' history prior to its emergence in the Roman period. In 64 B.C. as part of his reorganization of Asia Minor after the Third Mithridatic War, Pompey the Great founded a city on the site called "Megalopolis".[1] Numismatic evidence suggests that Megalopolis changed its name in the last years of the 1st century B.C. to "Sebasteia" in honor of the emperor Augustus: Σεβάστεια is the feminine form of the usual Greek translation of Augustus. The name "Sivas" is the Turkish version deriving from the name Sebasteia.

Sebastea, which became the capital of the province of Armenia Minor under the emperor Diocletian, was a town of some importance in the early history of the Christian Church; in the 4th century it was the home of Saint Blaise and St. Peter of Sebaste, bishops of the town, and of Eustathius, one of the early founders of monasticism in Asia Minor. It was also the place of martyrdom of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, also 4th century. Several Greek Orthodox and Armenian patriarchs were born in Sebaste, among them Atticus of Constantinople, the 5th‑century Patriarch of Constantinople, and Michael, the 16th‑century Patriarch of Echmiadzin. It was the birthplace (1676) of Mekhitar, the founder of Mekhitarist Order of the Armenian Catholic Church.

The Armenian king of Vaspurakan, Hovhannes Senekerim, exchanged his lands to the Byzantine emperor Basil II in 1021 A.D. and migrated to Sivas with 14.000 of his nobles and people and became a vassal of the Byzantines,[2] until the city was conquered by the Turkmen Danishmend dynasty (1155–1192) after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

In 1174, the city was captured by Seljuk ruler Kilij Arslan II and periodically served as capital of the Seljuk empire along with Konya. Under Seljuk rule, Sivas was an important center of trade and site of a citadel, along with mosques and madrasahs (religious educational institutions), four of which survive today and one of which houses the Sivas Museum.

The city fell to the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (1389–1402) in 1398, was lost to Timur (Tamerlane; 1336–1405) in 1400 who destroyed the city, and was recaptured by the Ottomans in 1408.[3] Under the Ottomans, Sivas served as the administrative center of the province of Rum until about the late nineteenth century.

Modern

In 1913 a campaign boycotting Christian trade was initiated by vali Ahmed Muammer Bey.[4] In April/May 1914 the bazaar of Sivas was set alight.[4] 5 July 1915 the Armenian population of Sivas was deported and massacred.[5] The Kemalist Sivas Congress (Heyet-i Temiliye) was held in this city 4–11 September 1919.[6] With the arrival of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder of the Turkish Republic, from Amasya, the Congress of Sivas is considered a turning point in the formation of the Turkish Republic. It was at this congress that Kemal's position as chair of the executive committee of the national resistance was confirmed (see Turkish War of Independence). Sivas was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 500 lira banknote of 1927-1939.[7] On 2 July 1993, 37 participants in an Alevi cultural and literary festival were killed when a mob of demonstrators set fire to the Madimak hotel in Sivas during a violent protest by some 15,000 members of various radical Islamist groups against the presence of Aziz Nesin, the Turkish translator of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. The deaths resulted in the Turkish government taking a harder stance against religious fanaticism, militant Islam, and antisecularism. In late 2006 there was a campaign by the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Institute to convert the former hotel into a museum to commemorate the tragedy, now known as the Sivas massacre.

Climate

Sivas has a Humid continental climate according to the Köppen climate classification with hot and dry summers and cold and snowy winters. The driest months are July and August and the wettest are April and May in the spring season.

Climate data for Sivas
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 0.8
(33.4) 		2.5
(36.5) 		8.3
(46.9) 		15.3
(59.5) 		19.9
(67.8) 		24.1
(75.4) 		28.0
(82.4) 		28.6
(83.5) 		24.8
(76.6) 		18.3
(64.9) 		10.2
(50.4) 		3.5
(38.3) 		15.4
(59.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2) 		−6.1
(21.0) 		−1.6
(29.1) 		3.6
(38.5) 		7.3
(45.1) 		10.2
(50.4) 		12.5
(54.5) 		12.3
(54.1) 		8.7
(47.7) 		4.7
(40.5) 		−0.3
(31.5) 		−4.1
(24.6) 		3.3
(38.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 43.0
(1.69) 		39.8
(1.57) 		48.1
(1.89) 		64.5
(2.54) 		61.7
(2.43) 		33.7
(1.33) 		11.7
(0.46) 		7.0
(0.28) 		18.1
(0.71) 		38.7
(1.52) 		43.5
(1.71) 		44.4
(1.75) 		454.2
(17.88)
Average rainy days 12.6 11.9 13.6 14.4 14.3 8.6 3.3 2.9 4.7 8.3 9.8 12.2 116.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours 74.4 92.4 151.9 186 251.1 318 365.8 359.6 288 195.3 114 65.1 2,461.6
Source: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü [8]

Sights

Leaning minaret, Ulu Camii (Mosque)

A cultural hub as well as an industrial one, Sivas contains many examples of 13th-century Seljuk architecture. The Mavi Medrese from 1271, the Şifaiye Medresesi from 1218 and the Çifte Minare Medresesi from 1271, with its intricately carved facade and minarets, are among the most noteworthy monuments. The oldest surviving mosque is the Great Mosque, dating from the Turkmen era. Near Sivas lay the Armenian monastery of Surp Nishan ("Holy Cross"), founded by Atom-Ashot, the son of King Sennacherib. Until 1915 it was the residence of the archbishop of the diocese of Sebastia and preserved various relics including the royal throne of Sennacherib. It is now entirely destroyed.

The Ulu Camii (Mosque) completed in 1196, is famous for its simplicity and it is a showcase for the Seljuk Turks' architectural style. The city is also famous for its Medreses (Madrasa). Gök Medresesi (the Celestial Madrasa; depicted on the obverse of the Turkish 500 lira banknote of 1927-1939[7]) and Mavi Medrese were built in 1271 by the Armenian architect Kaloyan.[9] Sifaiye Medresesi, on the other hand, was completed earlier, on the eve of the second wave of Turkic immigration to Anatolia, in 1218 and the with its intricately carved facade and minarets are among the most noteworthy edifices carries on the traditional Seljuk Medrese plan.

The city also contains some fine examples of the Ottoman architectural style. Kurşunlu Hamamı (Bath) which was completed in 1576, is the largest bath in the city and it contains many details from the classical Ottoman bath building. Behrampaşa Hanı (Caravansaray), was completed in 1573 and it is famous for its lion motives around its windows.

Atatürk Kongre ve Etnografya Müzesi (Atatürk Congress and Ethnography Museum) is a museum dedicated to the Sivas Congress and ethnographic pieces special to the region.

Sivas is also famous for its thermal springs which have a respectable percentage in the city's income. People believe that the water of these thermal springs can cure many illnesses. The most famous thermal areas are, Sıcak Çermik, Soğuk Çermik and Kangal Balıklı Kaplıca.

Notable natives

See also

Çağdaş Onur Öztürk - turkish actor -

References

  1. ^ A.H.M. Jones, The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 1971), 159.
  2. ^ Robert H. Hewsen: Armenia. A Historical Atlas, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago und London 2001, S. 116
  3. ^ Robert H. Hewsen: Armenia. A Historical Atlas, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago und London 2001, p. 190
  4. ^ a b Raymond Kévorkian: Le Génocide des Arméniens, Odile Jacob, Paris 2006, p.533
  5. ^ Raymond Kévorkian: Le Génocide des Arméniens, Odile Jacob, Paris 2006, p.543
  6. ^ Halil Gülbeyaz: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Vom Staatsgründer zum Mythos, Parthas, Berlin 2003, p. 87
  7. ^ a b Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Banknote Museum: 1. Emission Group - Five Hundred Turkish Lira - I. Series. – Retrieved on 20 April 2009.
  8. ^ http://www.dmi.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?m=SIVAS
  9. ^ Maxim Yevadian: Les Seldjouks et les architectes arméniens, Les Nouvelles d'Arménie Magazine, Nr. 156, October 2009, p. 73.
  10. ^ Plummer, Robert (2009-07-01). "Music sleuths seek out lost tunes". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
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