Bor is a town and district of

Niğde Province Niğde Province ( tr, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the southern part of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Population is 341,412 (2013 est) of which 141,360 live in the city of Niğde. The population was 348,081 in 2000 and 305,861 in 1990. It ...

in the

Central Anatolia The Central Anatolia Region ( tr, İç Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Ankara. Other big cities are Konya, Kayseri, Eskişehir, Sivas, and Aksaray. Located in Central Turkey, it is bordered ...

region of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, to the southeast of the city of

Niğde Niğde (; grc, Νίγδη; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and the capital of Niğde province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey at an elevation of 1,299 m. In 2017 the city population was 141,010 people. The city is small with plenty ...

(very frequent busses run between the two), on a high plain (altitude ). The district's population is 59,919 of which 38,320 live in the town of Bor.Statistical Institute
The area is situated just north of the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir ...

, not far from the

Cilician Gates The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m. The Cilician Gates hav ...

(Gülek Boğazı), the mountain pass leading to Cilicia and Syria, and has long been a place of commercial and military importance.

Etymology

The

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

and Assyrians gave the area the name Tuwanuwa. In the times of

Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger ( peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ''Kūruš''; grc-gre, Κῦρος ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC i ...

and

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

it was named Dana and then by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, ''

Tyana Tyana ( grc, Τύανα), earlier known as Tuwana (Hieroglyphic Luwian: ; Akkadian: ) and Tuwanuwa ( Hittite: ) was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was ...

'', (Θυάνα in

Ancient greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

). The remains of these civilizations can be found in the village of Kemerhisar. Bor is a more modern settlement nearby.

History

The plain has been settled since the time of the

, and subsequently controlled by Assyrians,

Phrygians The Phrygians (Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people, who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. They were related to the Greeks. Ancient Greek authors used ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ns and

Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Es ...

. The

(and from 395 AD onwards

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

) built the ancient city of

the most southernmost centre of Cappadocia. During the Byzantine period the town was the eastern Mediterranean region's most important Christian centre, as indicated also by its former Turkish name of Kilisehisar (‘City of the Churches’).

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

began to settle in the area in the wake of the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...

after 1071. In the course of time the fortifications of ancient Tyana vanished among the towns of Bor,

Kemerhisar Kemerhisar is a belde (town) in Niğde Province, Turkey Geography Kemerhisar at is a part of Bor district of Niğde Province. Distance to Bor is and to Niğde is . It is only west of Bahçeli another town of Niğde. The population is 5, ...

and Bahçeli. Today the economy of Bor depends on grazing animals, plus some carpet weaving and leather-making. The countryside is too dry for planting crops, although there are vineyards and orchards (mainly apple and apricot) in Kemerhisar. This is a relatively poor district and many people have migrated to Europe or the larger cities of Turkey in search of jobs.

Places of interest

*Alâeddin Bey (Ulu Cami) Mosque - on the riverbank in the town centre. *Şeyh İlyas or Kale Camii - 16th century Ottoman mosque. *The rocks where the

worshipped the storms gods, in the village of Gökbez. *The ruins of

(ancient Tuvanuva, Dana, Tyana) and a number of Roman waterways scattered over three hills between the villages of Bahçeli and Kemerhisar. These include the remains of a complex of Roman baths (Roma Hamamı) and a limestone aqueduct dated from the reign of

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

(211-217 A.D.). The original supply of the aqueduct, the monumental pool of Bahçeli (Roma Havuzu, 5.5 km NE) is still well preserved. It sits at the foot of ''Köşk Höyük'', a Hittite settlement excavated in 1981 that is turning out to be of great historical value. There are also other massive foundations of several large buildings, shafts, pillars, and one handsome column (replaced) still standing. *The mineral water and therapeutic mud-baths just south of Kemerhisar. The hot spring (15 °C) mentioned in ancient writings still bubbles into a cold swamp. The mineral water is drunk for its healing powers and the site (İçmeler) also includes a bathing pool.

Gallery

File:Bor Sultan Alaaddin mosque 1085.jpg, Bor Sultan Alaaddin mosque File:Bor Haci Kasim Sari Camii 1056.jpg, Bor Haci Kasim Sari Camii File:Bor Sokullu Mehmet Pasha mosque 1017.jpg, Bor Sokullu Mehmet Pasha mosque File:Bor Sokullu Carsisi 1022.jpg, Bor Sokullu çarşısı File:Bor Seyh Ilyas (Kale) mosque 1076.jpg, Bor Seyh Ilyas (Kale) mosque File:Bor Old Hamam 1045 Panorama.jpg, Bor Old Hamam File:Bor Erkekler Hamam 1003.jpg, Bor Erkekler Hamam File:Bor Clock Tower 1016.jpg, Bor Clock Tower File:Bor Bilgin cultural centre 0999.jpg, Bor Bilgin cultural centre File:Bor View 1081.jpg, Bor View File:Bor Ahmet Kuddusi Hazreti mausoleum 1089.jpg, Bor Ahmet Kuddusi Hazreti mausoleum

References

External links