Kozan, formerly Sis (), 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 ...

Adana Province Adana Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey located in central Cilicia. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 78.25% of the r ...

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 1,903 km², and its population is 132,703 (2022). It is northeast of

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

, in the northern section of the

Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

plain. The

Kilgen River Kilgen was a prominent American builder of organs which was in business from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. History The Kilgen family The Kilgen family's history of organ making supposedly dates to the 17th century, when Sebastian Kilgen ...

, a tributary of the

Ceyhan Ceyhan () is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,426 km2, and its population is 158,922 (2022). It is the most populous district of the province, outside the city of Adana. Ceyhan is the transportation hub for ...

, flows through Kozan and crosses the plain south into the Mediterranean. The

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...

rise up sharply behind the town. Sis was the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...

, today's

Sis (ancient city) Sis () was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The massive fortified complex is just to the southwest of the modern Turkish town of Kozan, Adana, Kozan in Adana Province. History Late Bronze Age Hittite period In the 2nd millennium ...

, now called Kozan Kalesi, was built on a long rocky ridge in the center of the modern city. The population of the city has grown rapidly in recent years, from 15,159 in 1960, to 54,451 in 1990, to 72,463 in 2007 and to 74,521 in 2009 (census figures).

Names

The oldest known name is Sis or Siskia. Under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, it was for a time named Flavias or Flaviopolis. The Greek version of the older name, Σίσιον Sision, came back into use in the later Byzantine period. In

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 ...

, it is called Sis Սիս or Sissu. ''Kozan'' () was originally the name of the administrative division the town Sis was a part of. This name originates from the Qōzānoğlu dynasty of

derebey A derebey () was a feudalism, feudal lord in Anatolia and the Black Sea, Pontic areas of Lazistan and Adjara in the 18th century, with considerable independence from the central government of the Ottoman Empire. Derebeys were required to provide m ...

s that controlled the region from 1689 to 1865.

History

Middle Ages

In 704, Sis was besieged by the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, but relieved by the Byzantines. The

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

al-Mutawakkil Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (); March 82211 December 861, commonly known by his laqab, regnal name al-Mutawwakil ala Allah (), was the tenth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, rul ...

took it and refortified it, but it soon returned to Byzantine hands. It was rebuilt in 1186 by Leo II, king of the

, one of the Rupenide dynasty who made the city the capital of the Kingdom of

Lesser Armenia Lesser Armenia (; ; ), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian-populated regions primarily to the west and northwest of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (also known as Kingdom of Greater Armenia), on the western sid ...

(from 1186 until 1375). During the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

the catholicate returned to Sis in 1294, and remained there 150 years. In 1266 Sis, the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, was captured and damaged by the Egyptian Mamluks led by

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...

. al-Said Barakah sent

Qalawun (, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually hel ...

to attack the city in 1277, but in 1375, Sis was taken and demolished by the

Ramadanids The Ramadanid Emirate ( Modern Turkish: ''Ramazanoğulları Beyliği'') was a Turkish autonomous administration and a ''de facto'' independent emirate that existed from 1352 to 1608 in Cilicia, taking over the rule of the region from the Armeni ...

, under the flag of the Mamluke Sultan of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. The town never recovered its prosperity, not even when it passed into the power of the Ottomans in 1516.

Ecclesiastical history

Sis had an important place in ecclesiastical history both the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

and as a Roman Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

. It is first mentioned in

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine ...

's life of St. Simeon Stylites. In the Middle Ages, Sis was the religious center of Christian Armenians, until the Armenians moved the seat of Catholicos back to Vagharshapat (

Echmiadzin Vagharshapat ( ) is the 5th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is commonly known as Ejmiatsin ...

), in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Lequien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. Biography Le Quien studied at , Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made ...

(II, 899) gives the names of several bishops of Sis, before and after Gregory IX. Even prior to the

, Sis was an episcopal see and several names of bishops and patriarchs can be found in the literature: *

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, later Bishop of Jerusalem and founder of the famous library of the Holy Sepulchre in the third century *Nicetas, present at the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

in 325 *John, who lived in 451; *Andrew in the sixth century *George (681) *Eustratus,

Patriarch of Antioch The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...

about 868 In 1441, Sis having fallen from its high estate, the Armenian clergy proposed to remove the see, and on the refusal of the Catholicos of the day,

Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX (; born Ugolino di Conti; 1145 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decretales'' and instituting the P ...

, installed a rival, namely Kirakos I Virapetsi (Kirakos of Armenia) at

, who, as soon as

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

had conquered Greater Armenia, became the more widely accepted of the two by the Armenian church in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The Catholicos of Sis (of the

Holy See of Cilicia The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia () is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon. Aram I is the Catholicos of C ...

) maintained himself nevertheless, with under his jurisdiction several bishops, numerous villages and convents, when the patriarch Nerses, declaring finally for Echmiadzin, carried the government with him. In 1885, Sis tried to declare Echmiadzin schismatic, and in 1895 its clergy took it on themselves to elect a Catholicos; but the Porte annulled the election, and only allowed it six years later upon Sis renouncing its pretensions to independence. That Catholicos had the right to prepare the sacred myron (oil) and to preside over a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

, but was in fact not more than a

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

, and regarded by many Armenians as schismatic.

Ottoman period

In the Ottoman period, Kozan was in the

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

of Adana, and the seat of the

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

of Kozan. Ottoman archives show that

Devşirme Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman practice of Conscription, forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising th ...

system was implemented in Kozan. However there is evidence that the locals resisted the practise. In 1564, for example, villagers from Sis came to the Ottoman capital

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 ...

and kidnapped their children back. From 1689 to 1865, the region was under the control of Kozanoğulları, a family of feudal lords. While there are various theories about their history and origin, they claimed descent from Turkmen tribes, and

Ahmed Cevdet Pasha Ahmed Cevdet Pasha or Jevdet Pasha in English (22 March 1822 – 25 May 1895) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman scholar, intellectual, bureaucrat, administrator, and historian who was a prominent figure in the Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empir ...

wrote that they were descended from the Arık tribe of Warsaks.

Modern

At the turn of the twentieth century, the town's population was 8,000, about 5,600 of which were Armenians. They were all deported during the course of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...

. Kozan was occupied by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

between March 8, 1919 - June 2, 1920 during the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

. After Turkey was declared a republic, Kozan was a province, compromising the districts of Kozan,

Kadirli Kadirli, historically Kars () or Karsbazar (), is a city in Osmaniye Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kadirli District.

, Feke and

Saimbeyli Saimbeyli, historically known as Hadjin (), is a town and district of Adana Province in present-day Turkey. Its area is 989 km2, and its population is 13,621 (2022). The town is located at the Taurus mountains of Cilicia region, 157 km north o ...

between 1923 and 1926.

Composition

There are 103

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 Kozan District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023. * Acarmantaş * Ağlıboğaz * Akarca * Akçalıuşağı * Akdam * Akkaya * Alapınar * Andıl * Arslanlı * Arslanpaşa *

Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...

* Ayşehoca * Bağlar * Bağözü * Bağtepe * Boztahta * Bucakköy * Bulduklu * Çamdere * Çamlarca * Çanaklı * Çandık * Çelenuşağı * Çobanpınarı * Çokak * Çukurören * Çulluuşağı * Cumhuriyet * Çürüklü * Damyeri * Dikilitaş * Dilekkaya * Doğanalanı * Duraluşağı *

Durmuşlu Cizre () is a city in the Cizre District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located on the river Tigris by the Syria–Turkey border and close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Cizre is in the historical region of Upper Mesopotamia and the cultur ...

* Düzağaç * Enizçakırı * Ergenuşağı * Eskikabasakal * Eskimantaş * Faydalı * Ferhatlı *

Gazi A ''ghazi'', or ''gazi'' (, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raids against non-Muslims. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by ...

* Gedikli * Gökçeyol * Gökgöz * Görbeyaz * Güneri * Hacıbeyli * Hacımirzalı * Hacıuşağı * Hamamköy * İdemköy * Ilıcaköy * Işıkkaya * Işıklı * Kabaktepe * Kahveli * Kalkumaç * Kapıkaya * Karabucak * Karacaoğlan * Karacaören * Karahamzalı * Karanebili *

Kemer Kemer is a seaside resort, municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 412 km2, and its population is 49,383 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coast, west of the city of Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera. Kemer is o ...

* Kıbrıslar * Kızıllar * Kızlarsekisi * Köseli * Kuytucak * Kuyubeli * Kuyuluk * Mahmutlu * Mahyalar * Marankeçili * Minnetli * Orçan * Örendere * Oruçlu * Özbaşı * Pekmezci * Postkabasakal * Salmanlı * Şerifli * Şevkiye * Taş * Tavşantepe * Tepecikören * Tufanlı * Tufanpaşa *

Turgutlu Turgutlu, also known as Kasamba (''Cassaba'' or ''Casaba'') is a municipality and district of Manisa Province, Turkey Magnesia on the Maeander. Its area is 549 km2, and its population is 175,401 (2022). Its elevation is . The present name de ...

* Türkeli * Turunçlu * Varsaklar * Velicanlı * Yanalerik * Yarımoğlu * Yassıçalı * Yeniköy * Yukarıkeçili * Yüksekören * Zerdali

Kozan today

Today Kozan is a city surrounded by vineyards, gardens and groves of

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

sycamore fig ''Ficus sycomorus'', called the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry (because the leaves resemble those of the mulberry), sycamore, or sycomore, is a fig species that has been cultivated since ancient times. Etymology and naming The specific n ...

, orange and lemon trees. In summer the great heat (40 plus degrees Celsius or 104 plus degrees Fahrenheit) compels the inhabitants to desert Kozan, retreating to cool off in the wooded higher ground.

Climate

Kozan has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Csa''). Kozan has mild, rainy winters and very hot, muggy and dry summers. The highest recorded temperature was on 13 August 2023 at .

Notable natives

* Nerses Balients (fl. early 14th century),

ecclesiastical figure, politician, historian * Grigor Khul (12th century), Armenian musician * Manase Sevak (1897–1967), Armenian biochemist and public figure, member of

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

and Soviet Armenia's Academy of Sciences * Grigor Kyulyan (1912–1974), Armenian writer *

İmren Aykut İmren Aykut (born 1940) is a Turkish female economist, trade unionist, politician and former government minister. Early years Aykut was born to Evket Şadi and his wife Emine in Kozan, Adana, Turkey in 1940. She finished the primary education ...

(born 1940), Turkish female economist, trade unionist, politician and former government minister

Things to see

Today ruins of churches, convents, castles and palaces may be seen on all sides. The lofty castle and the monastery and church built by Leo II, and containing the coronation chair of the kings of

Cilician Armenia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenians, Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages b ...

, were still noteworthy up until the

Gallery

File:Street view, Kozan - Adana 01.JPG, Street view of Kozan File:Büyük Cami, Kozan 01.JPG, Grand Mosque of Kozan File:Kozan Castle view from middle to north end 3217.jpg, Kozan Castle File:Dilekkaya, Kocakışla, 01500 Dilekkaya-Kozan-Adana, Turkey - panoramio.jpg,

Anavarza Castle Anvarza Castle is an ancient castle in Adana Province, Turkey. Geography The castle lies to the east of Dilekkaya village of Kozan district. Visitors follow Turkish state highway D.400 and the highway to north for and turn to east for . Alth ...

File:Kozan Velicanlı Mahallesi Sin Manastırı.jpg, Kozan Velicanlı District Sin Monastery File:Kozan Barajı, Kozan - Adana 03.JPG,

Kozan Dam The Kozan Dam is an embankment dam on the Kilgen River in Adana Province, Turkey. It is north of Kozan. Constructed between 1967 and 1972, the development was backed by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works. The purpose of the dam is flood control ...

File:Kozan 05.JPG, General view of Kozan

Notes

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Armenian History and Presence in Sis

Many pictures of the town and the castle
{{Authority control Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Populated places in Adana Province Districts of Adana Province Former Armenian communities in Adana Province