Adapazarı () is a municipality and the capital

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Sakarya Province Sakarya () is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Its area is , and its population is 1,080,080 (2022). The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Ma ...

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 ...

. Its area is 324 km², and its population 281,489 (2022). It covers the central and northern part of the agglomeration of Adapazarı and the adjacent countryside.

History

The history of Adapazarı dates back to 378 BC, when it was called Agrilion (Ἀγρίλιον in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

). Ancient settlers included

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

ns,

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

ns,

Cimmerians The Cimmerians were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into W ...

Lydians The Lydians (Greek language, Greek: Λυδοί; known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform Wikt:𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭, 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were an Anatolians, Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spo ...

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

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

, but Adapazarı got its identity from the ancient

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, Roman, and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

rulers. After

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

's conquests, the

were forced out of the region. One of the most important remains of historical significance is the

Sangarius Bridge The Sangarius Bridge or Bridge of Justinian ( Turkish: ''Justinianos Köprüsü'' or ''Beşköprü'') is a late Roman bridge over the river Sakarya (, Greek Σαγγάριος) in Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. It was built by the East Roman ...

() built by

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

in 533 AD. Historically, it was situated on the old military road from

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 ...

(now

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 ...

) to the east, connected, since the end of the 19th century, by a branch line with the

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 ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. It was founded in 1400 by 400

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

immigrant families who escaped from

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

's oppression in

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and was named "Donigaşen" after the name of their leaders. Today's inhabitants are

Manavs Manavs () or Manav Turks () are a subgroup of Turkish people living in northwest Anatolia, especially in Sakarya Province, Sakarya, Bilecik Province, Bilecik, Balıkesir Province, Balıkesir, Bursa Province, Bursa, Çanakkale Province, Çanakka ...

. The native

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

are

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 ...

and

who gradually converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, and it should not be ignored that Turk households settled in the region. Adapazarı's known name in Turkish at that time was Adacık and Ada. The source of the information that the region was conquered by

Orhan Gazi Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering most ...

and opened to settlement is also unknown. Seyifler_Kalesi2

In 1868, the Adapazarı Municipality was officially founded in the town called Der Seadet. A sugar factory and agricultural sugar factory attracted many migrants and accelerated the industrialization of the city. A law passed on 17 June 1954 in the Grand National Assembly saw the city separated from Kocaeli Province and made the center of its own province. The 1999 Marmara earthquake affected Adapazarı and inflicted losses in lives and material damage. In 2008 the district Adapazarı was created from part of the former central district of Adapazarı Province, along with the districts Arifiye, Erenler and Serdivan. At the same time, the province was renamed Sakarya after the Sakarya River which runs through it.

Economy

TR Sakarya asv2021-10 img13 Local museum

Adapazarı is the location of a large automobile factory owned by the

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

, as well as the Hyundai EURotem train factory. Tank Pallet 1st Main Maintenance, one of the biggest Turkish defense contractors, and

Otokar Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi A.Ş., also known simply as Otokar, is a Turkish bus and military vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Sakarya, Turkey. Otokar is a subsidiary of Koç Holding. History Otokar was founded in 1963 as Turkey' ...

, a major manufacturer of buses and military vehicles, are located in Sakarya. Other major industries in the city and its surrounding province include textile factories for

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

and

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

products. Agriculture and forestry also form an important part of the city's economy, with the production of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, hazelnuts (fındık variety), walnut-wood, cocoons and

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

. Adapazari is one of the most important industrial capitals of Turkey. While Turkey is a developing country, the city of Adapazari renovated its infrastructure and industry after the 17 August 1999 catastrophic earthquake which left more than 18,000 casualties behind. In memory of the earthquake, the municipality had built a museum of earthquake in the city center.

Education and culture

The only university in the city is Sakarya University, one of the largest universities in Turkey in terms of student enrollment. Since its establishment in 1992, Sakarya University has influenced the culture of the city and transformed public life. In addition to the university, many different institutions shape and influence the culture of the city. Adapazarı Kültür Merkezi (Adapazarı Culture Center), Ofis Sanat Merkezi (Ofis Art Center), and Sakarya Sanat Galerisi (Sakarya Art Gallery) are the main cultural institutions led by the municipality. Adapazari also hosts non-governmental cultural and educational organizations. Of them, Sakarya Bilgi Kültür Merkezi provides educational and cultural activities. Kent Park features an authentic, picturesque reconstruction of an historic water wheel that once provided fresh drinking water from the Çark River to public spigots located every few blocks throughout the city. The original wooden water wheel, commonly known as the Çark Wheel, was maintained and refurbished to operate in one form or another from 1724 to 1955.

Sports

Adapazarı is home to Sakaryaspor. Sakaryaspor has won the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

once and has played in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

for 11 seasons. They were promoted again to the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

in 2011, the second level in the Turkish football pyramid, as they beat Konya Şeker S.K., Bugsaşspor and Bandırmaspor consecutively in the play-off games of the

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

. However they were relegated in the following season, and since 2013 they have played in the

TFF Third League The TFF 3. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 3. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Foot ...

. Even though Sakaryaspor is not always a permanent team in the Süper Lig, they have raised many of Turkey's best players, such as

Hakan Şükür Hakan Şükür (; born 1 September 1971) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed the "Bull of the Bosphorus" and ''Kral'' (king), he spent the majority of his professional career with Galatasaray, being a ...

, Tuncay, Oğuz Çetin,

Aykut Kocaman Aykut Kocaman (, born 5 April 1965) is a former Turkish footballer, who played as a striker. He is the former manager of İstanbul Başakşehir. Before he made his debut 1980 with the amateur club Kabataş Altınmızrak in Istanbul, Kocaman ...

and many more.

Composition

There are 84

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Adapazarı District: * 15 Temmuz Camili * Abalı * Acıelmalı * Akıncılar * Alandüzü * Aşırlar * Bağlar * Bayraktar * Bileciler * Budaklar * Büyükhataplı * Çağlayan * Çaltıcak * Çamyolu * Çelebiler * Çerçiler * Çökekler * Çukurahmediye * Cumhuriyet * Dağdibi * Demirbey * Doğancılar * Elmalı * Evren * Göktepe * Güllük * Hacılar * Hacıramazanlar * Harmantepe * Hızırtepe * İkizce Müslüm * İkizce Osmaniye * İlyaslar * Işıklar * İstiklal * Karadavutlu * Karadere * Karakamış * Karaköy * Karaman * Karaosman * Karapınar * Kasımlar * Kavaklıorman * Kayrancık * Kışla * Kömürlük * Köprübaşı * Korucuk * Küçükhataplı * Kurtbeyler * Kurtuluş * Mahmudiye * Maltepe * Merkez * Mithatpaşa * Nasuhlar * Örentepe * Orta * Ozanlar * Pabuççular * Poyrazlar * Rüstemler * Sakarya * Salmanlı * Şeker * Semerciler * Şirinevler * Solaklar * Süleymanbey * Taşkısığı * Taşlık * Tekeler * Tepekum * Tığcılar * Turnadere * Tuzla * Yağcılar * Yahyalar * Yenicami * Yenidoğan * Yenigün * Yenimahalle * Yeşilyurt

Climate

Adapazarı has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

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 ...

: ''Cfa,'' Trewartha: ''Cf''). Summers are hot and sometimes oppressively humid, the average maximum temperature is around 30 °C in July and August. Winters are cool and wet, the lowest average minimum temperature is slightly below 4 °C in January. Precipitation is plentiful, fairly evenly distributed year-round, and is most frequent in winter. Snowfall is somewhat common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two, and it can be heavy. Highest recorded temperature: on 13 July 2000
Lowest recorded temperature: on 22 January 1961

Notable people

* Udi Hrant (1901–1978), oud player, singer and composer of Turkish and Armenian songs * Kriton Ilyadis (1916–1980), cinematographer *

Sait Faik Abasıyanık Sait Faik Abasıyanık (18 November 1906 – 11 May 1954) was one of the greatest Turkish people, Turkish writers of short stories and poetry and considered an important literary figure of the 1940s. He created a brand new style in Turkish lit ...

, writer, poet * Tuncay, footballer *

, footballer * Semih Saygıner, carom billiards champion * Kenan Sofuoğlu, motorcycle racer

Twin towns – sister cities

Adapazarı is twinned with: *

Klina Klina (Albanian language, Albanian: ''Klinë'' or ''Klina'') is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Peja of north-western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Klina h ...

, Kosovo *

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, United States

References

External links

Provincial governorate official website

Municipality official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adapazari Populated places in Sakarya Province Districts of Sakarya Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey