Başiskele, formerly known as Astacus, is a district in

Kocaeli Province Kocaeli Province ( tr, Kocaeli ili, ) is a province of Turkey and one of only three not to have the same official name as its capital, İzmit, which is thus also sometimes called Kocaeli. The province is the successor of the Ottoman-era Sanjak ...

and a sub-municipality of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality in the Marmara region of

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

. The mayor is Hüseyin Ayaz ( AKP).

History

Formerly known as

Astacus ''Astacus'' (from the Greek , ', meaning "lobster" or "crayfish") is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three extant (living) species and three extinct fossil species. Due to the crayfish plague, crayfish of thi ...

or Astakós in antiquity, Başiskele is a relatively new district, constituted in 2008. The municipality of Başiskele, which covers the whole area of the district, is a merger of the former independent municipalities of Kullar, Yeniköy, Bahçecik, Karşıyaka (before named Döngel) and Yuvacık. The name "Baş İskele" (Head Quay") was previously the name of a neighborhood close to the coast of the Sea of Marmara that was already known by that name in the 16th century.

References

External links

District governor's site
Populated places in Kocaeli Province Districts of Kocaeli Province {{Kocaeli-geo-stub