Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
: Πολύβοτον/Πολύβοτος and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''Polybotum''/''Polybotus'') is a city of
Afyonkarahisar Province
Afyonkarahisar Province ( tr, ), also called more simply Afyon Province, is a province in western Turkey.
Adjacent provinces are Kütahya to the northwest, Uşak to the west, Denizli to the southwest, Burdur to the south, Isparta to the southea ...
in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. It is the seat of Bolvadin District.İlçe Belediyesi Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023. Its population is 33,443 (2021). It has an altitude of 1,016 m. The mayor is Fatih Kayacan (
Ak Party
The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contempora ...
).
Bolvadin is the third-largest town in the province, after
Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar (, tr, afyon "poppy, opium", ''kara'' "black", ''hisar'' "fortress") is a city in western Turkey, the capital of Afyon Province. Afyon is in the mountainous countryside inland from the Aegean coast, south-west of Ankara along t ...
and
Sandıklı
Sandıklı is a town of Afyonkarahisar Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Sandıklı District.Sultandağ and
Emirdağ
Emirdağ is a town and district of Afyonkarahisar Province in Turkey, between the city of Afyon and Eskişehir. The district covers an area of 2,009 km2, and the population (2014) is 38,269 of which 19,093 live in the town of Emirdağ itself. ...
The city was founded in very early times. It was part of Phrygia. In the Roman era it was known as Polybotum and a castle was built here. It then passed into the hands of the
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
and then the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, known as a strategic bridge in the mountains.
From 1867 until 1922, Bolvadin was part of the
Hüdavendigâr vilayet
The Hüdavendigâr Vilayet ( ota, ولايت خداوندگار, Vilâyet-i Hüdavendigâr) or Bursa Vilayet after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 20th ...
of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Bolvadin was occupied by Greek troops during the
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...
, until September 1922.
Bolvadin today
The plain is watered by the river Akarçay and is a rich agricultural land. Opium was grown in the area and is still grown today; there is a factory here producing morphine for the
pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
. However today the plain is also used for growing grain and fruit. The higher mountainside is forested. The climate is hot in summer, cold enough to snow in winter. Lake Eber lies at the south-east edge of the plain, 967 m above sea level. Carp fishing and cutting rushes contribute to the economy of this farming district. This is not a rich region, it lacks infrastructure such as public transport and the people of Bolvadin are conservative.
Bolvadin is renowned for its cream made of buffalo milk.
The area is vulnerable to earthquakes.