Talas 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 ...

Kayseri Province The Kayseri Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in central Turkey. Its area is 16,970 km2, and its population is 1,441,523 (2022). It borders with Sivas, Adana, Niğde, Kahramanmaraş, Yozgat and Nevşehir provinces. T ...

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 444 km², and its population is 169,214 (2022). It is located about 7 km from the city of Kayseri and has evolved from an independent town to a satellite city of

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

. Talas is connected to Kayseri by road and by the Kayseray mass transit system.

History

The history of Talas dates back to 1500 BC. Its name first appears in 1070 AD as Moutaláskê, when it was mentioned for the first time when referring to St. Sabas as Moutalaske. It is believed that in (1500 BC) the area was inhabited by Mazacs and later in (510 BC)

Cappadocians The Cappadocian Greeks (; ), or simply Cappadocians, are an ethnic Greek community native to the geographical region of Cappadocia in central-eastern Anatolia; roughly the Nevşehir and Kayseri provinces and their surroundings in modern-day Turk ...

, (312 BC) Kayrus, and later the Romans. Its name was later rendered as Dalassa (

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 ...

: Δάλασσα).

Recent Chronological History

* 1071-1168 ''

Danishmendids The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered originally around Siv ...

Administration'' * 1077-1307 ''

Seljuk Empire The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a High Middle Ages, high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. ...

Administration'' * "Mongol Invasion" in 1243 * 1312-1388 ''

Ilkhanids The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

Administration'' * 1388-1446 ''

Kadi Burhan al-Din Kadi Ahmad Burhan al-Din (8 January 1345, Kayseri – 1398, Sivas) poet, scholar, and statesman. He was vizier to the Eretnid rulers of Anatolia. In 1381, he took over Eretnid lands and claimed the title of sultan for himself. He is most often ...

Period'' * 1446-1467 "Karakhanids" * 1467-1923 ''Ottomans (Al-i Osman, Al-i Dulkadiriye, Ramazanoğulları, Egyptian Mamluk Comrade'' (1835)) * 1923–Present '' Turkish Republic'' In 1510, some of the Armenians, who were exposed to the pressure of the Safavid ruler

Shah Ismail Ismail I (; 17 July 1487 – 23 May 1524) was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the history of Iran, and the Safavid period is often considered the beginn ...

, settled around Talas. Talas later became one of the important Armenian settlements in Anatolia until its eventual destruction and evacuation in 1915 by members of the late

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 ...

. Following the establishment of Turkish Republic, Greeks in this region were deported to

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 ...

by ships via Tarsus and Silifke during the

Population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...

. Today, there is a negligible presence of Armenian or Greek population in Talas.

Modern History

Talas has grown rapidly since 1980 as a result of its proximity to neighboring

is considered to be one of the

Anatolian Tigers In the context of the Turkish economy, Anatolian Tigers () are a number of cities in Turkey which have displayed impressive growth records since the 1980s, as well as a defined breed of entrepreneurs rising in prominence and who can often be trac ...

which were one of a number of cities in Turkey which have displayed impressive growth records since the 1980s. While Talas was long an independent and adjacent town it has now physically connected into the larger

region and has several major road and one mass transit connection via Kayseray. A more traditional Anatolian village aesthetic of older single family homes and gardens dominates the southern portion of Talas while the northern section is predominantly high-rise housing - much of which was initially developed by TOKİ. In 2014, Talas was connected to

via the Kayseray light rail system.

Geography

The district is located at the foot of

Mount Erciyes Mount Erciyes () is an inactive volcano in Kayseri Province, Turkey. It is a large stratovolcano surrounded by many Monogenetic volcanic field, monogenetic vents and lava domes, and one maar. The bulk of the volcano is formed by lava flows of And ...

, which is 7 km to southeast of Kayseri. The altitude of the district is 1100 meters above sea level. The southern portion of the district has a rugged geographical structure while the north is primarily a flat Anatolian plain. There are no streams or lakes. Lower Talas is a valley with an average altitude of 1100 meters, and Upper Talas is a plateau with an altitude of 1191 meters. Ali Mountain is located at an altitude of 1870 meters in the southeast of the district. Mount Ali is a volcanic mountain formed as a result of the eruption of

. Winters are cold and snowy while the summers are hot and dry. Rain usually falls in the spring and autumn seasons. There is no forest in the district, it is covered with meadows and pastures. There are plateaus in the villages of Cebir, Çömlekçi and Kepez in the district. The district's geographical features have become less predominant with its urbanization.

Climate

Temperature

The temperature in Talas starts to rise from March. It reaches its highest values in July and August. During summer months, the temperatures routinely reach 39 to 40 °C. With the effect of the continental climate, the night temperature may drop to lows around 10 °C. From September onwards, the temperature decreases continuously. This decline continues until the end of February. The winter season is regarded as severely cold and dry. The average winter temperature is -1, -2 °C. Snowfall occurs between November and April.

Precipitation

Since the climate of the district has a continental climate, precipitation generally falls in the form of snow in winter and rain in spring. Since 2010, the annual precipitation average of 359.7mm per square meter. This is lower than the average for Turkey which is between 500mm and 600mm.

Population

Administrative structure

While it was a town connected to

Liva before 1907, the town organization was established in 1907 and it became a sub-district of Kayseri in 1911. In 1987, it became a district with the Law No. 3392. Talas was historically a summer resort due to its proximity to Kayseri and its high landforms, though this trend has changed with its urbanization and improvement of transportation connections to the region. The

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 ...

population of the district hosted the

Army Commander-in-Chief Trikupis and his entourage, who were captured in 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 ...

. Before the mass deportation of Armenians from the area, Talas was known as an important trade center in Anatolia. The mayor of Talas is Mustafa Yalçın. He is a member of the AKP.

Composition

There are 31

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 Talas District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023. * Akçakaya * Alaybeyli * Ardıçköy * Bahçelievler * Başakpınar * Çatakdere * Cebir * Çevlik * Çömlekçi * Cumhuriyet * Endürlük * Han * Harman * Kamber * Kepez * Kiçiköy * Koçcağız * Kuruköprü * Mengücek * Mevlana * Örencik * Reşadiye * Sakaltutan * Sosun * Süleymanlı * Tablakaya * Yamaçlı * Yazyurdu * Yenidoğan * Yukarı * Zincidere

Economy

There are small-scale furniture workshops and a textile factory built on ready-made clothing in the district.

Erciyes University Erciyes University (), commonly referred to as ERU, is a public research university located in Kayseri, Turkey. Established in 1978, the university has become a center for education, research, and innovation, contributing to academic and scientifi ...

is located in Talas and employs a large population of professors and staff. As of 2019, the university had an undergraduate population of 56,103. With the extension of Kayseray to Talas, the city has evolved into a bedroom community to adjacent

which serves as the financial center of the larger region.

Notable people

* Mari Gerekmezyan was one of Turkey's first female sculptors and the first female Armenian sculptor.

Gallery

File:Panaghia Church Talas Kayseri 01.jpg, Exterior of the Yaman Dede Mosque File:Panaghia Church Talas Kayseri 03.jpg, Interior of the Yaman Dede Mosque File:TALAS - panoramio - cankurtaran (3).jpg, Historical building in Talas File:Yaman Dede Konağı - Talas Kayseri.jpg, Yaman Dede Mansion File:Kayseri Talas Dedeoğlu Parkı.jpg, Talas Dedeoğlu Park

Bibliography

References

External links

Talas District Governorship Site
{{Authority control Populated places in Kayseri Province Districts of Kayseri Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey