Edremit ( ku, Artemêt; hy, Արտամետ, Artamet), is a district in the

Van Province Van Province ( tr, Van ili, ku, Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. It is 19,069 km2 in area and had a population of 1,035,418 a ...

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 ...

. The district's central town which has the same name is situated on the coast of

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

at a distance of from the city of

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

Government

Gülcan Kaçmaz Sayyiğit from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected mayor at the

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

in March 2019. In September 2019 five council members of the HDP were dismissed and replaced with trustees. The

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retaine ...

is Muhammet Fuat Türkman.

Etymology

The current name of Edremit derives from the Armenian name Artamet, which literally means "Near the Fields" in Armenian, as it lies near the fields of grape and apple trees on the coastline of lake Van. The Greek name for Edremit is Adramyttion (Άδραμύττιον, Latin: ''Adramyttium''). Greeks connect this name with the ancient Greek 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 with ...

. In pre-Christian times, there was a temple in the area dedicated to the goddess

Anahit Anahit ( hy, Անահիտ, fa, آناهید) was the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water in Armenian mythology. In early periods she was the goddess of war. By the 5th century BCE she was the main deity in Armenia along with Ar ...

, who was sometimes identified with Artemis.

History

The town's foundation predates the Christian era. It was founded as a small town at the shores of

in Tosp district of

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeast ...

province lying in the middle of Historical Armenia. In the course of history, the city has had several names: Artemida, Zard, Artashessyan, Avan, Artavanyan and now - Edremit. In the time of the Urartian Kingdom, the Edremit gardens were irrigated by the Menua Canal and known to be fertile. The settlement served as a summer residence for the Armenian kings of antiquity. In the 10th century Artamet had a population of 12,000. It was especially renowned for its apple orchards, and was said to produce the best apples in all Armenia. At the beginning of the 19th century Artamet had approximately 500 houses, 435 of which were Armenian, and 65 Turkish. After the Hamidian Massacres of 1894–1896, the number of Turkish families increased to 400, while the number of Armenian families decreased to 200. Shortly before the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

, the Armenians of the settlement lived mainly in central part of Artamet, while the Turks settled near peripheral gardens and fields. Before 1915, Artamet had 10 Armenian churches and 1 Greek church. Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and other local Christians were almost entirely destroyed by Turks during the

, although some of the Armenians managed to flee to

Eastern Armenia Eastern Armenia ( hy, Արևելյան Հայաստան ''Arevelyan Hayastan'') comprises the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands, the traditional homeland of the Armenian people. Between the 4th and the 20th centuries, Armenia was partitione ...

. After the massacre of the local Christians, thousands of their historical monuments were annihilated as well. The events of Artamet in 1915 are described in the book ''Four Years Beneath the Crescent'' by Venezuelan writer and soldier Raphael de Nogales.Four Years Beneath the Crescent
/ref> Earthquake On the 9 November 2011 an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

of the magnitude of 5.9 M_w occurred in Edremit.

References

{{Districts of Turkey, provname=Van Towns in Turkey Western Armenia Populated places in Van Province Districts of Van Province Kurdish settlements in Turkey