Niğde (; ; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and is located in the Central Anatolia region of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is the seat of

Niğde Province Niğde Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the southern part of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 7,234 km2, and its population is 365,419 (2022) of which 170,511 live in the city of Niğde. The population was 348,081 in 200 ...

and Niğde District.İl Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 170,511 (2022). It lies at an elevation of . The city is small with plenty of green space and gardens around the houses. Its people generally tend to be religious and conservative. Medieval monuments are scattered about the centre of the town, especially around the market place. The nearest airport is Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport (NAV) which is 90.6 km (50.6 miles) away.

History

Nigde museum Kosk Hoyuk Gods and goddesses 0886

Niğde is located near a number of ancient trade routes, particularly the road from

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

(ancient

Caesarea Mazaca Caesarea (Help:IPA/English, /ˌsɛzəˈriːə, ˌsɛsəˈriːə, ˌsiːzəˈriːə/; ), also known historically as Mazaca or Mazaka (, ), was an ancient city in what is now Kayseri, Turkey. In Hellenistic period, Hellenistic and Roman Empire, Rom ...

) to the

Cilician Gates The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m. The Cilician Gates ...

and thence to the Mediterranean coast. The area has been settled by

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, Romans, Byzantines and Turks. In the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, it was known as Magida (), and was settled by the remaining inhabitants of nearby Tyana after it fell to the Arabs in 708/709. By the early 13th century Niğde was one of the largest cities in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. After the fall of the

Sultanate of Rûm The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

(of which it had been one of the principal cities), Niğde was captured by

Anatolian beyliks Anatolian beyliks (, Ottoman Turkish: ''Tavâif-i mülûk'', ''Beylik''; ) were Turkish principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by ''beys'', the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A second and more exte ...

such as the Karaman Beylik and Eretna Beylik. Passing through in the 14th century, the explorer

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

reported it ruinous. It did not pass into Ottoman hands until 1467. According to the Ottoman population statistics of 1914, the

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

of Niğde, then part of the Konya Vilayet, had a total population of 291,117, consisting of 227,100 Muslims, 58,312

, 4,935

and 769

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. The demographics of the town of Niğde, which was part of the Niğde sanjak, consisted of 52.754 Muslims, 26.156 Greeks, 1.149 Armenians and 137 Protestants. Most of the Christian population of late 19th-century Niğde lived in the Eski Saray Mahallesi near the Sungur Bey Mosque where the remains of two large stone churches still survive in a neglected condition.

Republican era

More recent immigrants include Turks from Bulgaria and other Balkan countries, who were settled here by the Turkish authorities in the 1950s and 1960s. Gumusler_Monastery_Courtyard_1202

The opening of Niğde University in 1992 started to bring more cultural and social amenities to what was at the time essentially a large town with a rather rural feel to it.

Geography

Niğde consists of 26 neighbourhoods: Alaaddin, Ahipaşa, A.Kayabaşı, Balhasan, Burhan, Çayır, Dere, Efendibey, Esenbey, Eskisaray, İlhanlı, Kale, Nar, Saruhan, Selçuk, Sırali, Sungur, Ş.Süleyman, Şahinali, Şehitler, Yenice, Y.Kayabaşı, İnönü, Fertek, Kumluca and Hamamlı.

Climate

Niğde has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''BSk'', Trewartha: ''BS''), bordering on a temperate continental climate (

: ''Dsa'', Trewartha: ''Dc''). Niğde has hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.

Geology

The town is located between the volcanic Melandiz Mountains, which include the

Mount Hasan Mount Hasan () is a volcano in Anatolia, Turkey. It has two summits, the high eastern Small Hasan Dagi and the high Big Hasan Dagi, and rises about above the surrounding terrain. It consists of various volcanic deposits, including several cald ...

Stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

near the city of Aksaray to the north, and the Niğde Massif to the south-southeast. The

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

is a

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

dome that contains abandoned antimony and iron mines. Several marble quarries are currently being used to dig out the pure white crystalline marble of the massif.

Sightseeing

In town

*Sungur Bey Mosque, a unique early 14th-century mosque in the town centre which combines elements of Selçuk and Gothic architecture, including quadripartite vaulting and a rose window. Standing on a platform above the market place, it was recently restored. * Alaaddin Mosque, a 13th-century mosque whose portal is decorated with

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

. Shadows cast on the stone masonry around the entrance at a specific time on specific days of the year are said to form an image of a woman's face with a crown and long hair (Islam forbade human imagery but tessellations and calligraphic pictures were allowed, so "accidental" silhouettes became a creative escape). * Hudavend Hatun Türbe, the finest of several Selçuk tombs in the centre of Niğde, dates back to the early 14th century. * Ak Medrese (White Medrese), built in 1409 during the years when the Karamanoğlu dynasty ruled Niğde. * Niğde Castle (Niğde Kalesi) looms above the town, its location made obvious by a clocktower (1902) inside it. It dates back in part to Selçuk times. Its interior is now a public park. * Niğde Archaeological Museum, one of whose star attractions is the Niğde Stele which was recovered from the Dışarı Mosque where it was being used as a door lintel.

Around town

* Eski Gümüşler Monastery, a rock-cut frescoed monastery built by the Byzantines and containing unique paintings of stories from Aesop's Fables. It was only rediscovered in 1963 *

Kemerhisar Kemerhisar is a town (''belde'') in the Bor District, Niğde, Bor District, Niğde Province, Turkey. Its population is 5,463 (2022). Geography The distance from Kemerhisar to Bor, Niğde, Bor is and to Niğde is . It is only west of Bahçeli, ...

, the site of ancient Tyana, especially noted for a lengthy surviving stretch of Roman aqueduct. * Aladağlar and

Bolkar Mountains Bolkar Mountains, also known as Bulgar Dagh or Bolghar Dagh, are a mountain range situated in the middle part of the Taurus mountains complex in southern Turkey bounded by the Göksu River to the west and the Pozantı River to the east. The nor ...

, which are popular with mountaineers and trekkers. * Çiniligöl * Çiftehan thermal springs

Gallery

File:Nigde Alaadin mosque 1251.jpg, Portal of Alaadin Mosque, Niğde File:Nigde Gundogdu mausoleum 1276.jpg, Gündoğdü türbe (tomb), Niğde File:Nigde 060.jpg, Sungurbey Mosque and mausoleum, Niğde File:Nigde Town view 1293.jpg, Hükümet Meydan (Government Square) in Niğde File:Yelatan Aladağlar 07.jpg, Aladağlar (Ala Mountains), near Niğde File:Yelatan Aladağlar 01.jpg, Aladağlar (Ala Mountains), near Niğde File:Yelatan Aladağlar 06.jpg, Aladağlar (Ala Mountains), near Niğde File:Gumusler Monastery Courtyard 1202.jpg, Eski Gümüşler Monastery, near Niğde File:Niğde kalesi ve saat kulesi.jpg, Niğde Castle and Clock tower File:Çiftehan, Niğde, Turkey.jpg, Çiftehan File:Tyana, Cappadocia, Turkey (37581916866).jpg, Ruins of Roman aqueduct in Tyana (Kemerhisar), near Niğde File:TyanaAquädukt2.jpg, Ruins of Tyana (Kemerhisar) aqueduct, near Niğde File:Tyana, Cappadocia, Turkey (37630877571).jpg, Ancient Tyana File:Tyana, Cappadocia, Turkey (23777522658).jpg, Roman pool in ancient Tyana (Kemerhisar), near Niğde File:Nigde Hudavent Hatun mausoleum 1269.jpg, Hüdavent Hatun Mausoleum, Niğde File:Nigde museum Porsuk inscription Late Hittite 8th BC 0922.jpg, Late Hittite inscription from Porsuk (8th century) in Nigde museum File:NigdeMuseumTyana.jpg, Finds from Tyana in Niğde Museum File:NigdeMuseumKösk1.jpg, Niğde Museum File:NigdeMuseumMumieIhlara1.jpg, Niğde Museum: mummy thought to be of 1000-year-old nun File:The 'Nigde' Carpet MET DP170574.jpg, Niğde Carpet File:Kirche Küçükköy 07.jpg, Inside Küçükköy Church

Notable people

* Abdullah Durak, footballer * Ayhan Şahenk, businessman *

Nükhet Duru Nükhet Duru (born 19 May 1954) is a Turkish singer. Career She started singing at Florya Deniz Club in Istanbul in 1971. She released her first 45 album ''Aklımda Sen Fikrimde Sen – Karadır Kaşların'' in 1974. It was followed by many sing ...

, singer * Emre Altuğ, Singer and actor * Ebubekir Hazım Tepeyranbr>
* , (1934-2014), Member of Parliament (1977-1980) from the Nigde District *

Yıldız Kenter Ayşe Yıldız Kenter (11 October 1928 – 17 November 2019) was a Turkish actress and lecturer who was of English descent from her maternal side. Kenter was also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Early years Ayşe Yıldız Kenter was born to diplom ...

, actress * Leonidas Kestekides (1876–1954), a

Cappadocian Greek Cappadocian Greek (, also known as Cappadocian is a dialect of modern Greek, originally spoken in Cappadocia (modern-day Central Turkey) by the descendants of the Byzantine Greeks of Anatolia. The language originally diverged from Medieval Gree ...

chocolate manufacturer from Nigde,

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

and founder of the internationally famous Leonidas company in Belgium * Petros Petridis (1892–1977), prominent

composer and conductor, born in Nigde (Cappodocia) * Thanassis P. Aghnidès, (1889–1980), born in family estates (Kayabashi), graduated from Université Impériale de Constantinople with a law degree and the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He was a Greek-Ottoman diplomat, joined the SDN in 1919 and became undersecretary Geneva 1938-1942, chairman of the disarmament section at U.N. 1946-1960. He also served as Greek ambassador to the Court of St James in London 1942-1945. * Elie P. Aghnidès (1901–1988), iInventor, best known of his inventions is the faucet aerator and the massage shower. Another of his inventions was the Rhino, an amphibious, 5-ton, 4-wheeled vehicle designed for multiple terrains. The prototype was built by Marmon-Harrington in Indianapolis. * Nicholas P. Aghnidès, (1883–1974), author, Professor at Columbia University best seller Mohammedan Theories of finance.

References

External links

Municipality's official website

Yesilburç Village

A web portal of Niğde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nigde Cappadocia Populated places in Niğde District World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Provincial municipalities in Turkey