Burdur is a city in southwestern

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 seat of

Burdur Province Burdur Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the southwest and bordering Muğla and Antalya to the south, Denizli to the west, Afyon to the north, and Isparta to the east. It has an area of 6,887 km2 and a population of 258, ...

, it is located on the shore of

Lake Burdur Lake Burdur ( tr, Burdur Gölü) is a large saline lake of tectonic origin, positioned at the frontier between Burdur and Isparta provinces in southwestern Turkey. It has an area of 250 km2 and a maximum depth variously reported at between 5 ...

. Its estimated 2010 population is 78,389.

History

Ancient history

Whilst there is evidence of habitation in the province dating back to 6500 BC, the earliest sign of habitation in the city itself dates to Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. Artifacts from this period have been found in the site of today's railway station. In antiquity, the area was part of the region of

Pisidia Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Ant ...

. It has been proposed that the city of Burdur has changed location a number of times; the ancient city of Limnombria ("Lake City") was closer to

than the modern city. It is known that in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era, the city existed with the name Polydorion ( gr, Πολυδώριον), from which the current name is derived. No remains of Polydorion survive to this day. Burdur may also occupy the site of a town called Praetoria.

Turkish settlement and the Hamidids

The history of the urban development of Burdur is generally held to begin with the Turkish settlement after the Seljuq victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. In the late 11th century, the Kınalı tribe of the Oghuz Turks captured the Burdur area and settled there. Turks became the majority of the population of the area after 1211, establishing a number of villages in addition to expanding the town. The first Turkish settlement was in an area known as Hamam Bendi that had a lower elevation than today's city but was farther to the lake than the ancient town of Limnombria. These residents used the site of today's Grand Mosque of Burdur as an open marketplace, known as Alanpazarı. Realising the high incidence of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in the area they had settled, these residents then moved uphill, away from the lake. These first residents had not submitted to any state, but Kilij Arslan II, the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, captured the area in 1177 and imposed his sovereignty over the local tribes. The town remained under the undisputed sovereignty of the Sultanate of Rum between 1206 and 1260, when it was captured by the Mongol Empire. Developing commerce in the port of

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

increased the significance of Burdur as a centre of commerce.

Tragacanth Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of Middle Eastern legumes of the genus ''Astragalus'', including '' A. adscendens'', '' A. gummifer'', '' A. brachycalyx'', and '' A. tragacantha''. Some of these specie ...

obtained from the mountains of Psidia, wine from Kütahya, wax, wood and tar from many parts of Anatolia passed through Burdur, in exchange of which Egyptian spices, cotton and sugar was traded. In 1300, the

Hamidids Hamidids or Hamed Dynasty (Modern Turkish: ''Hamidoğulları'' or ''Hamidoğulları Beyliği'') also known as the Beylik of Hamid, was one of the 14th century Anatolian beyliks that emerged as a consequence of the decline of the Sultanate of Rum an ...

under

Dündar Bey Dündar Bey was the youngest son of the Kayı Bey Suleyman Shah or Gündüz Alp and the younger brother of Ertuğrul (13th century). He was the uncle of Osman I, the founder of Ottoman Empire. Biography At the time of the division of the Kayı ...

captured Burdur. Dündar Bey had the Grand Mosque of Burdur built around a hilly area in 1300, and the town subsequently developed around the mosque. The Hamidids administered Burdur as a district under the town of

Eğirdir Eğirdir is a town and district of Isparta Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. History The town and the lake were formerly called ''Eğridir'', a Turkish pronunciation and possible appropriation of the town's old Greek name Akrotor ...

. The

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...

then captured Burdur in 1324 under the governor of Anatolia,

Timurtash Ala ud-Din Timurtash (died 1328; also Temürtaš or Timür-Tash, tr, Demirtaş Noyan) was a member of the Chupanid family who dominated politics in the final years of the Ilkhanate. Early life He was born to Chupan as his second son . Timurtas ...

. Dündar Bey's son, İshak Çelebi, recaptured Burdur in 1328. Traveller Ibn Battuta visited the town in 1330. In the account of his visit, he described Burdur as a town blessed with natural beauty and a number of orchards and farms, centred around the Burdur Castle near the Grand Mosque. No trace of the castle remains today except for the names of some of the streets, indicating that with the lack of a strategic requirement for a castle, it was gradually destroyed. The account also indicates the presence of a guild of

ahis The Ahi Brotherhood ( tr, Ahî, plur. ''Ahîler''), referred to as Ahi Republic by modern historians, was a fraternity, guild and a beylik based in modern-day Ankara in the 13th and 14th century Anatolia. Background Turkic people began settl ...

controlling commerce and production. By comparing the description of Burdur with the presentation of other cities such as Eğirdir, Isparta and Denizli, it can be deduced that Burdur was a relatively minor urban centre with limited commerce. It was, nevertheless, still a stop on the trade route between

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...

, the cities of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and the ports of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. Burdur was captured by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1391, when

Bayezid I Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...

conquered the Hamidids. It was initially a district centre and a small town under the

Sanjak of Hamid The Sanjak of Hamid (also ''Hamideli'') was a second-level province (''sanjak'') of the Ottoman Empire. The ''sanjak'' comprised the region around the town of Isparta, which was ruled by the Hamidids, an autonomous Turkish dynasty that submitte ...

. As of 1478, Burdur had four quarters, three being Muslim and one being Christian. The largest of these was the Cami ("Mosque") quarter of the Muslims. There was a small Greek population living in the city until the

Population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

.An abandoned Greek church in the city has been turned into a museum with a giant dinosaur fossil a few years ago.

Climate

Burdur has a hot summer mediterranean climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Csa'') or a

temperate oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen ...

: ''Do''). It has chilly, wet and often snowy winters and hot, long and dry summers.

Education

Mehmet Akif Ersoy University is located in Burdur.

Notable residents

* Burdurlu Dervish Mehmed Pasha Ottoman Grand Vizier 1818-1820 * Burdurlu Ahmet Şükrü Pasha Ottoman Military Doctor, with major improvements in medical awards

References

External links

Governor's official websiteSite with a few picturesVery many pictures of the Archaeological MuseumBurdur News
{{Authority control Populated places in Burdur Province Districts of Burdur Province