Gölcük, historically known as Diolkides, is a municipality and

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 ...

Kocaeli Province Kocaeli Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey and one of only three not to have the same official name as its capital, İzmit, which is thus also sometim ...

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 217 km², and its population is 175,940 (2022). Gölcük is located on the southern shore of the

Gulf of İzmit Gulf of İzmit (), also referred to as İzmit Bay, is a bay at the easternmost edge of the Sea of Marmara, in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. The gulf takes its name from the city of İzmit. Other cities and towns around the bay are Gebze, Körfez, ...

, which is the easternmost inlet of the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

. Gölcük is home to the Gölcük Naval Base and Gölcük Naval Shipyard of the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

. A

Ford Otosan Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (Turkish for 'Ford Automotive Industry'), doing business as Ford Otosan, is an automotive manufacturing company based in Turkey that is equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding. The company was established ...

automobile plant is also located in the district.

History

The historical development of Gölcük started in the region that the

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

and Romans called

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 ...

, which also included the nearby city of

İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...

(ancient

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; , ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletian who rul ...

) and its surroundings. It is thought that Gölcük was historically known as ''Diolkides'' (''Diolkídis'' in

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

). In the late Ottoman period, 21 out of the 24 villages within the borders of present-day Gölcük district (except for the Halıdere, Ulaşlı and Yazlık villages) were administered by the Bahçecik Sub-district Directorate of the

Sanjak of Kocaeli The Sanjak of Kocaeli was a second-level Ottoman province ('' sanjak'' or '' liva'') with capital at Iznikmid/Izmid (Byzantine Nicomedia, modern Izmit). History Kocaeli derives its name from Akça Khodja, an Ottoman Turkish warleader who be ...

. Georgian Muslims from the Adjara region fleeing the

Russian conquest of the Caucasus The Russian conquest of the Caucasus mainly occurred between 1800 and 1864. The Russian Empire sought to control the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. South of the mountains was the territory that is modern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georg ...

, especially during the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Romania, Principality of Serbia, Serbia, and Principality of ...

, were settled in the villages of the Samanlı Mountains near Gölcük. After the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the first step for Gölcük to become a

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

city was taken in 1927. The technical need that emerged with the decision to repair the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

TCG ''Yavuz'', which was damaged in 1925, led to the establishment of the Gölcük Naval Shipyard. A pool was built in the same year and a floating drydock was purchased. The town center and the Gendarmerie were established in the village of İhsaniye in 1930. The population of Gölcük started to increase rapidly with the arrival of the workers from the shipyards in Istanbul, who were employed for repairing the battlecruiser TCG ''Yavuz'' at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard. In the meantime, Gölcük district was established with the law numbered 3012, which was adopted on June 9, 1936 and entered into force on June 15, 1936. Due to the absence of a building suitable for government offices in Gölcük, the district governorship started to work temporarily in the rented buildings in the town of Değirmendere. The Government Mansion, the construction of which was completed in a short time, was opened in 1938 and the offices of the district governorship moved to Gölcük. Although the fundamental studies for enlarging the Gölcük Naval Shipyard were started in 1938,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

prevented these works, and the real development and expansion of its facilities began in 1947, especially after Turkey's membership of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

in 1952. As a result, the population of the town of Gölcük expanded significantly starting from the 1950s. In the expropriations made with the Special Expropriation Law No. 3887 enacted in 1942, the Government Organization was transferred to Değirmendere in February 1944, with a decision taken by the Provincial General Assembly, since the Government Mansion remained within the expropriation area. After staying in Değirmendere for 10 years, the government moved back to Gölcük in accordance with the law no. 6322 enacted on March 4, 1954. GolcukMosque

Following the establishment of the District Governorship of Gölcük, the District and Population Organization and the Police Department were established in Değirmendere. The number of villages in the district of Gölcük was increased to 23 by taking the Halıdere and Ulaşlı villages from the district of Karamürsel. However, with Değirmendere becoming a township, the number of villages decreased to 22. When the Damlar neighbourhood of the Saraylı village became a detached village in 1959, the number of villages in the district of Gölcük increased to 23 again. The Municipality Organization was established in the İhsaniye village with the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 06/09/1966 and numbered 4636. Today, the Gölcük district comprises the town (centrum) of Gölcük and 6 other towns, namely Değirmendere, İhsaniye, Halıdere, Ulaşlı, Hisareyn and Yazlık, as well as a total of 23 villages.

17 August 1999 earthquake

The İzmit earthquake of 17 August 1999, which had a moment magnitude of 7.6 and a

surface-wave magnitude The surface wave magnitude (M_s) scale is one of the magnitude scales used in seismology to describe the size of an earthquake. It is based on measurements of Rayleigh surface waves that travel along the uppermost layers of the Earth. This mag ...

of 7.8 had its

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

in Gölcük and caused severe damage in the eastern part of the Marmara Region. According to official figures, at least 18,373 people died and 48,901 people were injured during the earthquake, and 5,840 people are missing. At least 155 deaths were associated with the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

. The damage was estimated at between $12 billion and $20 billion (in 1999 U.S. dollars) according to various sources such as the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. Reports from September 1999 stated 127,251 buildings were damaged to varying extents and at least 60,434 others collapsed, while an

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

report from 2003 estimated that 320,000 homes and businesses were destroyed. More than 250,000 people became homeless. Many people who experienced the earthquake in a wide geographical area were psychologically affected by the trauma.

Composition

There are 54

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 Gölcük District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023. * Ayvazpınarı * Değirmendere-Atatürk * Değirmendere-Bucak * Değirmendere-Cumhuriyet * Değirmendere Merkez * Değirmendere-Topçular * Değirmendere-Yalı * Değirmendere-Yukarı * Değirmendere-Yüzbaşılar * Donanma * Dumlupınar * Düzağaç * Eskiferhadiye * Ferhadiye * Halıdere-Körfez * Halıdere-Yalı * Halıdere-Yeni * Hamidiye * Hasaneyn * Hisareyn * Hisareyn-Karaköprü * Hisareyn-Merkez * İcadiye * İhsaniye * İhsaniye-Çiftlik * İhsaniye-Denizevler * İhsaniye-Merkez * İpekyolu * İrşadiye * Kavaklı * Lütfiye * Mamuriye * Merkez * Mesruriye * Nimetiye * Nüzhetiye * Örcün * Panayır * Piyalepaşa * Saraylı * Şehitler * Selimiye * Şevketiye * Şirinköy * Siyretiye * Sofular * Ulaşlı-Yalı * Ulaşlı-Yavuz Sultan Selim * Ümmiye * Yalı * Yazlık Merkez * Yazlık-Yenimahalle * Yeni Mahalle * Yunusemre

References

External links

District governor's official website

District municipality's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golcuk, Kocaeli Populated places in Kocaeli Province Populated coastal places in Turkey Districts of Kocaeli Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey

History

17 August 1999 earthquake

Composition

See also

References

External links