Eğirdir is a town and district of Isparta Province in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

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 ...

History

The town and the lake were formerly called ''Eğridir'', a Turkish pronunciation and possible appropriation of the town's old Greek name Akrotori. Moreover, the name "Eğridir" means '(It) is bent.'. The town was founded by 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 ...

before falling to the

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 ...

in around 1200 BC, and subsequently being conquered by the

Lydians The Lydians (known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform Wikt:𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭, 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were Anatolians, Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an ...

, the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

and the forces of

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 ...

. The Romans called the town Prostanna. During 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, when it acquired its name of ''Akrotiri'' ("peninsula"), it was the seat of a bishopric. The Seljuks conquered it around 1080 and held it until the Hamidoğulları tribe made it the capital of a small principality in 1280, which lasted until 1381. The 14th century traveller

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

described it as "a great and populous city with fine bazaars and running streams, fruit trees and orchards", which was situated beside "a lake of sweet water". The

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

took control in 1417. Most of its population consisted of Greek Orthodox people until the population exchanges of the 1920s.

Features

Eğirdir lies between Lake Eğirdir and the Mount Sivri, and contains the Eğirdir Castle said to have been built by

Croesus Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. Croesus was ...

, king of

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

, although additions were built by the Romans, Byzantines, and Seljuks. The population of Eğirdir was 19,469 in 2010, but swells in the summer months as part-time residents return for the holidays. Eğirdir is a fishing community and local residents fish in Lake Eğirdir year round. Yeşil Ada (Turkish for "green island") is a small island connected to Eğirdir by a short causeway. Restaurants, hotels, pensions (pansyons or hostels), and a few private residences fill the island. Known for its past as a Greek village, Yeşıl Ada still has quite a few stone homes remaining from the Greek era. Eğirdir Castle

Locals claim that Eğirdir is home to the world's only walk-through minaret.

References

Gallery

File:Eğirdir View 005.jpg, Eğirdir View File:Eğirdir Dündar Bey Medresesi and Hızır Bey Camii 3002.jpg, Eğirdir Dünbar Bey Medresesi and Hızır Bey Camii File:Eğirdir Dünbar Bey Medresi and Hızır Bey Camii 019.jpg, Eğirdir Dünbar Bey Medresesi, Hızır Bey Camii File:Dündar Bey Madrasa.jpg, Dündar Bey Madrasa File:Eğirdir Dünbar Bey Medresi and Hızır Bey Camii 3009.jpg, Eğirdir Dünbar Bey Medresesi and Hızır Bey Camii years later File:Eğirdir Hızır Bey Camii 2993.jpg, Eğirdir Hızır Bey Camii interior File:Eğirdir Museum 031.jpg, Eğirdir Museum File:Eğirdir, byzantinisch-seldschukische Burg.jpg, Eğirdir, byzantinisch-seldschukische Burg

External links

District municipality's official website

Egirdir, Turkey Information Website
Populated places in Isparta Province Fishing communities in Turkey Towns in Turkey Cittaslow {{Isparta-geo-stub

History

Features

See also

References

Gallery

External links