Kırşehir, historically known as Mocissus or Mokissos[2] (Ancient Greek: Μωκισσός) and Justinianopolis[2] (Ἰουστινιανούπολις) in ancient times, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Kırşehir Province and Kırşehir District.[3] Its population is 162,989 (2023).
History
Malkaya is a monument with rock inscriptions that belongs to Hittites civilization.
The history of Kırşehir dates back to the Hittites. During the period of the Hittites, the basin of Kırşehir was known as the country of "Ahiyuva", meaning "the Land of the Achaeans", as the Greeks were known to the Hittites. This basin also took the name Cappadocia at the time of the Romans and Byzantines.
Kırşehir was once known as Aquae Saravenae.[4] The Seljuks took the city in the 1070s and bestowed the current name. In Turkish, "Kır Şehri" means "steppe city" or "prairie city". It became the chief town of a sanjak in the Ottomanvilayet of Angora,[2] which possessed, c. 1912, 8,000 inhabitants, most of them Muslim Turks.[5]
In the 19th century, Kırşehir was attached to the sanjak of Ankara. From 1867 until 1922, Kırşehir was part of Angora vilayet. In 1924, Kırşehir was made capital of the new Kırşehir Province. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visited the city in 1921 and 1931.
Historic buildings and structures
Ahi Evran MosqueView of Lake HillaGondolas in Kentpark
Kesikköprü
Kesikköprü is one of the bridges built by the Seljuk Empire in Central Anatolia. It is on the way of Kırşehir-Konya, about 20 km (12.43 mi) to the south of Kırşehir, and across the River Kızılırmak with its 13 parts. Those who came from Izmir and tried to reach Sivas and Erzurum from Tokat passed over Kesikköprü. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the bridge took the name of Kesikköprü due to the fact that caravan roads were cut off by highwaymen.
The inscription on the bridge says it was built by Atabeg Izzu’d-Din Muhammed in 646 of the Hijrah/1248 of the Christian era during the rule of Keykavus, the son of Keyhüsrev. The inscription sunk in the river in 1953. The three-line inscription on the stone base can be read with difficulty:
Ressame bi-imaret hazihi el-kantara el-mubareke (fi eyyam khan) dawlet es-sultan el-azam, izzu-d dunya wa-d din, ebu'l feth Kaykaus bin Kaykhusraw Burhan emir el-mu’munin. El-mawla el-sahibu el-azam, atabek el-muazzam, nazım mesalih el-'alem, nasır el-enam, zubdet el-eyyam, Izz-eddin ebu'l meli Muhammed Zahir Ali Seljuk wa emir el-mu’minin a'azzellahu nasrahu wa a'la kadrehu fi shuhuri sene sitte wa arba'in wa sitte mia [646], hamiden li-Llah wa musallian 'ala nebiyyihi Muhammed wa aalihi wa sellem teslimen kethiran.
Kırşehir Castle is located on a hill mound, believed to have been built in the 4th century.
It covers an area of 10 acres. It is thought to have been built by the ByzantineEmperorJustinian. Nothing remains from the castle.[7][8]
Geographical center of the world
Tomb of Ashik PashaYunus Emre Tomb in Ulupınar.Sunflower cultivation is an important part of the agriculture in Kırşehir
Mocissus was also a Christian bishopric, and became a metropolitan see when, as Procopius (De ædif., V, iv) informs us, Justinian divided Cappadocia into three provinces and made this fortified site in north-western Cappadocia metropolis of Cappadocia Tertia, giving it the name of Justinianopolis.[5] Nothing else is known of its history, and its name should perhaps be written Mocessus. There is no doubt that the site of Mocissus, or Mocessus, is that which is occupied by the modern city of Kırşehir.[5] It figured in the Notitiæ episcopatuum until the 12th or 13th century.
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