Mesudiye, formerly Hamidiye, (in Greek Μεσουδιέ and Μιλάς) is a town and district of

Ordu Province Ordu Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Samsun to the northwest, Tokat to the southwest, Sivas to the south, and Giresun to the east. Its license-plate code is 52. The capi ...

in 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 ...

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 ...

. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 28,551 of which 5,665 live in the town of Mesudiye. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of . Mesudiye is a large area of hilly countryside, villages and pasture far inland from the

coast, south-west of the city of

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, historically also known as Cotyora or Kotyora ( pnt, Κοτύωρα), and the capital of Ordu Province with a population of 229,214 in the city center. Name Kotyora, the ori ...

, in the direction of

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

. This is a low-income district that since the 1950s has seen successive generations migrate away to jobs in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

and elsewhere. Today Mesudiye itself is a small town of 5,600 people and the whole district is sparsely populated, although busier in summer with returning Mesudiye families on vacation. Efforts are being made by the state to boost the local economy including the opening of a college of a higher education college. Mesudiye is a home to sizeable

Chepni Chepni ( az, Çəpni; tr, Çepni; tk, Çepni) is one of the 24 Oghuz Turkic tribes. History In the legend of Oghuz Qaghan, the Chepni was stated as one of the clans of the tribe of ''Gök Han'' that consists of Pecheneg (''Beçenek''), Bayand ...

Turkmen population. also, was capital of Chepni Beylik Hacıemiroğulları.

History

Mesudiye has been inhabited since the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

era and has numerous remains from the time of 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 ...

and there are a number of rock tombs from early antiquity in the area. When it was brought into 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) ...

by Mehmed II in 1455 the area was a collection of mountain villages centred on the slightly larger village and market place known then as ''Milas''. This was renamed ''Hamidiye'' in 1876 and then Mesudiye in 1908. According to Bryer and Winfield, the later Greek name for Mesudiye (or Hamidiye) was Meletios, Melet, or Milas (Grk: Μελέτιος, Μελέτ, or Μήλας), probably derived from the Melanthios River(Melet Irmak) which runs through it and down to Ordu.

Villages

The villages of Mesudiye district include Abdili, Alanköy, Arıcılar, Arıkmusa, Armutkolu, Arpaalan, Aşağıgökçe, Mesudiye, Aşıklı, Balıklı, Bayırköy, Bayraklı, Beşbıyık, Beyağaç, Beyseki, Birebir, Celalköy, Çaltepe, Çardaklı, Çavdar, Çerçi, Çitliksarıca, Çukuralan, Darıcabaşı, Dayılı, Derebaşı, Doğançam, Dursunlu, Erikköy, Esatlı, Göçbeyi, Gülpınar, Güneyce, Güvenli, Güzelce, Güzle, Hamzalı, Herközü, Ilışar, Kaleköy, Karabayır, Karacaören, Kavaklıdere, Kışlacık, Konacık, Mahmudiye, Musalı, Pınarlı, Sarıca, Sarıyayla, Topçam Köyü, Türkköyü, Yağmurlar, Yardere, Yavşan, Yeșilce, Yeşilçit, Yeveli, Yukarıgökçe, and Yuvalı.

History

Villages

References

Notes

External links