Gönen is a district of

Balıkesir Province Balıkesir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, Aegean. Its adjacent provinces are Çanakkale Province, Çanakkale to the west, İzmir Province, İzmir to the southw ...

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 ...

, in the southern part of

Marmara Sea The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the B ...

. The town is mostly known for its therapeutic

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

, leather processing and rice production.

Location

The town is surrounded by

Bandırma Bandırma () is a city in northwestern Turkey with 161,894 inhabitants as of 2021 on the Sea of Marmara. Bandırma is a district of Balıkesir Province. Bandırma is located in the south of the Marmara Sea, in the bay with the same name, and is a ...

in the northeast,

Biga Biga may refer to: Places * Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey * Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province * Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province * Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part ...

and Yenice in the west,

and

Gulf of Erdek Erdek Gulf is a gulf of Marmara Sea, Turkey. It is administratively a part of Balıkesir Province. In fact, the gulf is named after Erdek, an ilçe (district) of the Balıkesir Province which is situated at the north coast of the gulf . The midpoin ...

and

Balya Balya is a town and district of Balıkesir Province 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 ...

in the south. Elevation is above sea level.

Names and etymology

The oldest known name of the town is Asepsus (Ασεψούς 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 ...

). This was also the name of the brook, that flows next to the city center and was crossed by the

Roman 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 letter ...

Aesepus Bridge The Aesepus Bridge ( tr, Güvercin Köprüsü, "Dove Bridge") was a late antique Roman bridge over the Aesepus River (today ''Gönen Çayı'') in the ancient region of Mysia in modern-day Turkey. It is notable for its advanced hollow chamber syste ...

. Research shows that the subsequent name was Artemea (Αρτεμέα), a derivation of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

goddess

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

. After the Ottoman conquest the name Gönen was used. The

etymological Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...

source of that name is still disputed. Widely accepted possibilities are: * Non-Turkish possibilities: ** Ka-wana : A word meaning "Sheepland/Sheep Country" in

Luwian The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fa ...

** Germenon : A word meaning "

Hot Spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

" ** Giunan : A word meaning "Greek" (Yion 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 ...

), becoming "Giunen" and then "Gonen" in Turkish * Possible meanings in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: ** A small pond that dries in summer, small pond, placid water ** Humid, wet, well-watered. Also, some sources indicate that there was a nomadic tribe of the "Yörükan community" bearing the name "Gönen","Gönan" or "Gönenlü". The tribe was loosely based around

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

and Maraş.

History

According to

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

's Seyahatname (In which he collected the notes of his journeys), Gönen was used by the governors of Bursa as a summer holiday location, where they enjoyed the therapeutic uses of the

. On 18 March 1953, Gönen suffered a M7.3 earthquake which left 50 dead in Gönen and hundreds of buildings damaged. a previous devastating earthquake had occurred here in 1440 AD.Kürçer, Akın (2008) "The Yenice–Gönen active fault (NW Turkey): Active tectonics and palaeoseismology" ''Tectonophysics'' 453: pp. 263-275

Demographics

According to, the census that took place in 2010, the population is 43,802. This data includes, the town center and nearby villages within the virtual borderline drawn by branches of Gonen Brook. The total population, including Sarıköy and all 89 villages, is 73407. The population distribution is mostly linear, as most villages are located in between the borders of the valley. However, population density noticeably decreases in more steep areas.

Transport

Using available high speed ferry services, it takes 2 hours to reach Istanbul. The only train route available is to

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

, but this is mostly used for cargo, rather than passenger

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

. Local air service is available through

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

. International flights are handled through

İstanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and

Notes

External links

Gönen Kaplıcaları A.Ş.
Info about thermal properties of

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonen Towns in Turkey Populated places in Balıkesir Province Spa towns in Turkey Districts of Balıkesir Province