Ürgüp
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ürgüp ( ''Prokópio,''
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 ...
: ''Prokópi'', ) is a town in Nevşehir province in the Cappadocia area of Central Anatolia,
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 Ürgüp District.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
Its population is 24,647 (2022). The town lies at an average elevation of . As elsewhere in Cappadocia, the centre of Ürgüp is full of old stone houses clustered around a central rock formation, in this case Temenni Tepesi (Temenni Hill, Wish Hill). Ürgüp got into the boutique-hotel movement early and as a result has a flourishing tourism industry, in part because it has more amenities than other Cappadocian destinations. It makes a good base for visiting all the main attractions of Cappadocia, including the rock-cut churches and the underground cities. As well as tourism, Ürgüp has a thriving wine-growing industry. It also provided the setting for many episodes of the popular television series, ''Asmalı Konak'' which aired from 2002 to 2004 and was credited with kickstarting domestic tourism to Cappadocia. Ürgüp features briefly in Philip Glazebrook's travelogue, ''A Journey to Kars'', when he is forced to extend his stay there due to 1980 census-taking which decreed that no one could go anywhere and no transport was operating.


History

The original occupation of the site of Prokopi/Ürgüp probably dates back to Hittite times although there is no longer anything to show for that today. A few tombs left from a necropolis serve as evidence of Roman occupation. Of Byzantine occupation there are also only scant traces, mainly of the Church of St Procopius, the saint after whom the town was originally named. Ürgüp was known as Osiana (''Assiana'') in the Byzantine period. More evidence survives of the Selçuk presence here, especially in the form of the hexagonal Altı Kapılar (Six Gates) tomb of a military commander in the town centre. A symbolic tomb (1863) on top of Temenni Hill commemorates the Selçuk leader Ruknettin Kılıçarslan IV who was killed while in Ürgüp. In late Ottoman times Prokopi/Ürgüp was home to a mixed population of Turks and Christians; according to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82–1893, the kaza of Ürgüp had a total population of 23,030, consisting of 19,880 Muslims, 3,134
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 ...
and 16
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 ...
. It was during this period that most of the town centre's grand stone houses, many of them now converted into hotels, were built. Some of these houses still contain fine secular frescoes attesting to the fact that they were designed for members of the minority populations. The Sucuoğlu Konağı (Mansion) is visible to those prepared to poke around in the ruinous properties - one of its walls is decorated with scenes of a Zeppelin and a hot-air balloon flying over
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
/
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. It was also in the 19th century that a huge church was built to honour St John the Russian. It was demolished in the 1950s and a girls school built on the site; its memory lives on only in photographs. What is now the Şehir Hamamı (City Hamam) stands in the Greek neighbourhood which was known as the Gavur Mahallesi (Infidel Neighbourhood). In 1924 the Greeks of Prokopi were forced to leave Turkey under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. When they left they took the relics of St John the Russian with them to their new home on the island of Euboea in
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
where murals on a church wall now depict the journey from Cappadocia. Other Greeks from Prokopi settled in Larissa in Greece.


Local attractions

There is a small local museum inside the park in the centre of Ürgüp. Uphill from the Hotel Surban, the renowned Turasan Winery supplies 60% of Cappadocia's wines and offers free tours and tastings in its rock-carved wine cellar. On the outskirts of Ürgüp, heading towards Göreme, a group of striking fairy chimneys to the right of the road are sometimes called 'The Three Beauties', 'Three Graces', 'The Family' or the 'Three Sisters'.


Gallery

File:Three beauties of Ürgüp.jpg, The 'Three beauties' fairy chimneys, thought to be named after to
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
,
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
and
Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
.


Notable natives

* Saint John the Russian (1690-1730),
Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
of the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
* Mustafa Güzelgöz (1921–2005), librarian known as the "Librarian with Donkey"


International relations

Ürgüp is twinned with: * Larissa, Greece (since 1996) * Kireas, Greece (since 2004)


See also

* Cappadocia * Kayakapı


References


External links


District municipality's official website

Map of Ürgüp district

St George and the dragon

Administrative map of Ürgüp district

Hundreds of pictures of Ürgüp

Ürgüp State Agency

Geography and history of Ürgüp
Governorship of Ürgüp. {{DEFAULTSORT:Urgup District municipalities in Turkey Cappadocia Populated places in Ürgüp District