Kepez is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and district governorate in Greater Antalya,

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 ...

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

is one of the 30

metropolitan centers in Turkey There are 81 provinces in Turkey ( tr, il). Among the 81 provinces, 30 provinces are designated metropolitan municipalities ( tr, büyükşehir belediyeleri). Metropolitan municipalities are subdivided into districts ( tr, ilçe), where each dist ...

with more than one municipality within city borders. In Antalya there are five second-level municipalities in addition to the Greater Antalya (büyükşehir) municipality.

Geography

Kepez is a part of Greater Antalya proper. The name Kepez means rocky area, referring to the local landscape prior to urbanisation, which consisted of a rocky

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

. The urban population of Kepez was 425,794 Statistical Institute
as of 2012.

History

Kepez, like the rest of Greater Antalya, was wrested between the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

and the Byzantines during the 11th and 12th centuries. After 1216, Kepez was incorporated into the Seljuk realm. After the disintegration of the Seljuks, the area fell under the control of the Turkmen

Beylik of Teke The Anatolian beylik of Teke ( tr, Tekeoğulları Beyliği, 1321–1423), with its capital at Antalya, was one of the frontier principalities established by Oghuz Turkish clans after the decline of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. History The Te ...

. In 1389, the city 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) ...

. After the defeat of the Ottomans in the

Battle of Ankara The Battle of Ankara or Angora was fought on 20 July 1402 at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and the Emir of the Timurid Empire, Timur. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to the ...

in 1402, Kepez was annexed by the

Karamanid The Karamanids ( tr, Karamanoğulları or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman ( tr, Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in South-Central Anatolia around the present-day Karaman Pr ...

s, another Turkmen principality, and stayed within their control until 1415. During this brief period a Turkmen tribe named Varsak was settled around Kepez. After 1415 Antalya became an Ottoman territory. During the Republican era the scattered population around Kepez increased. After Antalya was declared as the metropolitan center, the Kepez municipality was incorporated into Greater Antalya in 1993 and the corresponding district governorate was established in 2008.

Archaeology

The ancient city of Lyrboton Kome ( grc, Λυρβωτῶν κώμη), located in the Kepez district on a hill in Varsak, was discovered in 1910 by European archaeologists. The city was an important olive oil production center in the region and had close ties to

Perge Perga or Perge ( Hittite: ''Parha'', el, Πέργη ''Perge'', tr, Perge) was originally an ancient Lycian settlement that later became a Greek city in Pamphylia. It was the capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda, now located in ...

. The ancient city became a settlement during the

Hellenistic era In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

but the area grew during the era of Roman Emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...

in the first century.Anatolia’s oldest known olive oil press found in Antalya
/ref>

Kepez today

Antalya bus terminal and a cement factory as well as a hydroelectric plant are in Kepez. Although not a seaside district, Kepez maintains a number of tourist attractions like

Düden Waterfalls Düden Waterfalls are a group of waterfalls in the province of Antalya, Turkey. The waterfalls, formed by the recycle station water, are located northeast of Antalya. They end where the waters of the Lower Düden Falls drop off a rocky cliff ...

and the zoo of Antalya. Scenic areas, such as Kepezüstü, are also visited often.

Rural area

There are 6 villages in the rural area of the Kepez district. The total population of the district (urban and rural) is 433,791.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Antalya Province Kepez District Districts of Antalya Province Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey