Gölhisar (literal translation: "lake castle") is a town in
Burdur Province
Burdur Province () is a province of Turkey, located in the southwest and bordering Muğla and Antalya to the south, Denizli to the west, Afyon to the north, and Isparta to the east. Its area is 7,175 km2, and its population is 273,799 (202 ...
in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
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
Gölhisar District
Gölhisar District is a district of the Burdur Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Gölhisar.İlçe Belediyesi Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Its population is 16,118 (2021).
History
During antiquity Golhisar was site of an ancient city called Kibyra, the capital of a tetrapolis comprising Kibyra itself, Bubon, Balbura and Inuanda, which according to Herodotus were founded by the Pisidians around 1000BC,
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
including a 180 meter wide theater can be still seen. In the Byzantine era the town was the seat of a
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
Bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
.
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 ...
visited the small town of Qul Hisar, noting "There is no way to reach it except by a path like a bridge constructed between the rushes and the water, and broad enough only for one horse-man."
Gölhisar became a district on January 13, 1953 with the merger of Uluköy and Horzum Districts. It got its name from the fortress built on the island in the middle of the lake, 6 km from the district.