Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern

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 ...

and the capital of the

Eskişehir Province Eskişehir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Bilecik to the northwest, Kütahya to the west, Afyon to the southwest, Konya to the south, Ankara to the east, and Bolu to the north. The provincia ...

. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empir ...

n Valley. In the nearby hills one can find hot springs. The city is to the west of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, to the southeast of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

and to the northeast of

Kütahya Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate). The region of Kütahya ha ...

. It is located in the vicinity of the ancient city of Dorylaeum. Known as a

university town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several s ...

; Eskişehir Technical University, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, and Anadolu University are based in Eskişehir. The province covers an area of .

Name

The name literally means 'Old City' in Turkish.

History

Cybele Figure with lions (Roman period) - 3

The city was founded by the

Phrygians The Phrygians ( Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people, who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. They were related to the Greeks. Ancient Greek authors use ...

in at least 1000 BC, although it has been estimated to be older than 4000 years old. The current city lies about a mile from the ancient Phrygian city of Dorylaeum. Many Phrygian artifacts and sculptures can still be found in the city's archeological museum. There is also a museum of

meerschaum Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning " sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula ...

stone, whose production remains still notable, used to make high quality meerschaum

pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...

. In the fourth century AD the city moved about ten km northeast, from Karacahisar to Şehirhöyük. The region was originally inhabited by

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...

. Many ancient geographers described the city as one of the most beautiful in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. As with many towns in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

arrived after

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

legalized the

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. Beginning in the 4th century, records exist of bishops holding office in Eskişehir. The city was known as () in Greek in that period. One of these bishops,

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

, was heavily involved in shaping the evolving

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

of the church. It was called during the Seljuk period.Türkiye İller Ansiklopedisi 1.Cilt s.409 In 1097 it was the site of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

in which the Crusaders defeated the Seljuk Turkish sultan Kilij Arslan I; the town later fell to the Turks in 1176, or the 13th century.

Economy

Traditionally dependent on flour milling and brickyards, the city expanded with the building of railway workshops in 1894 for work on the

Berlin–Baghdad railway The Baghdad railway, also known as the Berlin–Baghdad railway ( tr, Bağdat Demiryolu, german: Bagdadbahn, ar, سكة حديد بغداد, french: Chemin de Fer Impérial Ottoman de Bagdad), was started in 1903 to connect Berlin with the ...

. As of 1920, Eskişehir was one of the major locations for

mining. At that time, most of the mining sites were owned by the state.

Devrim Devrim (, meaning ''Revolution'' in Turkish) was the first ever automobile designed and produced in Turkey. Automotive Industry Congress On 15 May 1961, the ''Otomotiv Endüstri Kongresi'' (Automotive Industry Congress) was opened by Presiden ...

, the first Turkish automobile, was produced in 1961 at the

TÜLOMSAŞ TÜLOMSAŞ ( tr, Türkiye Lokomotif ve Motor Sanayi Anonim Şirketi) is a locomotive and wagon builder in Turkey. It is the main locomotive supplier of the Turkish State Railways and is one of the 2 companies that designs and assembles locomoti ...

factory in Eskişehir.

never put into mass production and stayed a concept study and can be viewed in TÜLOMSAŞ factory Eskişehir. In addition to production, first Turkish steam powered locomotive called Karakurt was produced at the TÜLOMSAŞ in 1961. Eskişehir was also the site of Turkey's first aviation industry (Aeronautical Supply Maintenance Centre) and its air base was the command center of Turkey's first Tactical Air Force headquarters on

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

's southern flank during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. Eskişehir produces trucks, home appliances, railway locomotives, fighter aircraft engines, agricultural equipment, textiles, brick, cement, chemicals, processed meerschaum and refined sugar. , one of Turkey's largest food brands (mostly producing biscuit, chocolate and candy varieties) is based in Eskişehir. Arçelik, a major Turkish home appliances and consumer electronics manufacturer, has one of its production plants in Eskişehir. Eskişehir was the first stage of

High-speed rail in Turkey The Turkish State Railways (TCDD) started building high-speed rail lines in 2003. TCDD has branded its high-speed service as Yüksek Hızlı Tren (YHT) which currently operates on two lines: the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway and the An ...

from

. This service improved the travel and commerce between Eskişehir and Ankara, thanks to reduced journey time. GKN, a major global automotive supplier for passenger and commercial car powertrain systems has a plant in Eskişehir. The city is served by the Anadolu Airport.

Education

There are three universities in Eskişehir. These are the Anadolu University, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, and the Eskişehir Technical University which is the first university in the world that gained the privilege of managing airports. Anadolu University, in addition to its on-campus studies, started open university courses through TV broadcasts in the 1980s. Allowing access to tertiary education for thousands of students who otherwise would not have been able to benefit from any. The current Metropolitan Mayor of Eskişehir, Prof. Dr.

Yılmaz Büyükerşen Yılmaz Büyükerşen (born 8 November 1937) is a Turkish politician, educator and current mayor of Eskişehir. Biography Büyükerşen graduated from the Eskişehir Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences (later renamed Anadolu University) ...

, was formerly the rector of the Anadolu University.

Culture

The city has a significant population of Turkic Crimean Tatars. It also attracted ethnic Turks emigrating from

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

countries such as

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

, North Macedonia and the

Sandžak Sandžak (; sh, / , ; sq, Sanxhaku; ota, سنجاق, Sancak), also known as Sanjak, is a historical geo-political region in Serbia and Montenegro. The name Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative dis ...

region of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

, who contributed to the development of the city's metalworking industries. Eskişehir also hosted the inaugural

Turkvision Song Contest The Turkvision Song Contest (TSC, tr, Türkvizyon Şarkı Yarışması), also known as the Türkvizyon Song Contest, is a recurring song contest created by Turkish music channel TMB TV, inspired by the format of the Eurovision Song Contest. ...

in 2013, which aims to highlight music and artists from various Turkic-speaking regions. The city is also home to the Dünya Müzeleri Müzesi or Museum of World Museums. Other museums in the city are Eti Archaeology Museum,

Aviation Museum An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, models, dioramas ...

, Meerschaum Museum, Museum of Independence, Museum of Modern Glass Art,

Tayfun Talipoğlu Typewriter Museum Tayfun Talipoğlu Typewriter Museum, or shortly Typewriter Museum, ( tr, Tayfun Talipoğlu Daktilo Müzesi or ''Daktilo Müzesi'') is a technology museum in Odunpazarı, Eskişehir, Turkey exhibiting typewriters. The Typewriter Museum is the first ...

Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Museum Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Museum, also known as Eskişehir Wax Museum, ( tr, Yılmaz Büyükerşen Balmumu Heykeller Müzesi) is a wax museum in Odunpazarı second level municipality in Greater Eskişehir, Turkey. The museum is situated on Atatür ...

and the Odunpazarı Modern Museum.

Attractions

Bridge over Porsuk, Eskişehir 01 (cropped)

Most of modern-day Eskişehir was rebuilt after 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 ...

(1919–1923), but a number of historic buildings remain, such as the Kurşunlu Mosque. The archaeological site of the ancient

n city of Dorylaeum is close to Eskişehir. The city is noted for its natural hot sulphur springs.

Climate

Eskişehir has a

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(''BSk'') under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, and a temperate

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...

(''Dc'') under the Trewartha climate classification. The city features cold, snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Rainfall occurs mostly during the spring and autumn. Due to Eskişehir's high altitude and its dry summers, nightly temperatures in the summer months are cool. Precipitation levels are low, but precipitation can be observed throughout the year.

Sports

Odunpazarı_Modern_Museum_Tanabe_Chikuunsai_IV

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top divisio ...

, founded in 1965, plays in the TFF Second League after being relegated during the 2021-22 TFF First League. It plays its home games in the

New Eskişehir Stadium The New Eskişehir Atatürk Stadium ( tr, Yeni Eskişehir Atatürk Stadyumu) is a stadium Eskişehir, Turkey. It opened to the public in late 20 November 2016 and has a capacity of 32,500spectators. It is the home ground of Eskişehirspor Eski ...

Notable natives

* Eusebius of Dorylaeum5th century bishop *

Battal Gazi Seyyid Battal Ghazi is a Turkish warrior based in Anatolia (associated primarily with Malatya, where his father, Hüseyin Gazi, was the ruler,) based on the real-life exploits of the 8th-century Umayyad military leader Abdallah al-Battal. His attr ...

8th century

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

saint buried in Seyitgazi * Yunus Emre13th century Turkish folk poet * Sheik Edebali13th century religious leader, spiritual founder 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 ...

Behiç Erkin Behiç Erkin (1876 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire – November 11, 1961, in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish career officer, Armenian genocide perpetrator, first director (1920–1926) of the Turkish State Railways, nationalized under his au ...

- Turkish Schindler, first director (1920–1926) of the Turkish State Railways, Minister of Public Works (1926–1928), Turkish Ambassador (Budapest 1928–1939, Paris and Vichy 1939-1943) * Yakup Satar - last Turkish veteran of the First World War * Fahrettin Kerim Gökay - Professor, former Mayor of Istanbul (1949–1957), former Turkish Ambassador (Bern), former Minister of State *

- Professor, Metropolitan Mayor of Eskişehir, Reporter, Columnist, Caricaturist, Editor, former Rector of Anadolu University, former member of RTYK, Professional Wax Sculptor *

Cüneyt Arkın Fahrettin Cüreklibatır (8 September 1937 – 28 June 2022), better known by his stage name Cüneyt Arkın, was a Turkish film actor, director, producer and martial artist. Having starred in somewhere around 300 movies and TV series, he is wid ...

- Actor, Director, Producer, Martial Artist, Doctor in Medicine * Nuri Alço - Actor, Director, Producer *

Eqrem Çabej Eqrem Çabej () (6 August 1908 – 13 August 1980) was an Albanian historical linguist and scholar who, through the publication of numerous studies gained a reputation as a key expert in research on Albanian language, literature, ethnology and ...

- Linguist and scholar * Melis Birkan - Actress * Zeki Sezer - former Leader of the Democratic Left Party DSP, Chemical Engineer, Minister of State (57th government) *

Hasan Polatkan Hasan Polatkan (1915 – 16 September 1961) was a Turkish politician and Minister of Labor and Finance, who was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other cabinet members. Early years He was born 1915 in Eski� ...

- Politician *

Mehmet Terzi Mehmet Terzi (born May 5, 1955) is a medal-winning former long-distance runner from Turkey, who specialized in running marathons. He served as the president of the Turkish Athletic Federation ( tr, Türkiye Atletizm Federasyonu) (TAF) for nine y ...

- Long-Distance Runner * Gamze Bulut - Mid-Distance Runner * Zeki Önder Özen - Football Manager * Ömer Çatkıç - Football Goalkeeper * Neslihan Demir Darnel - Volleyball Player *

İpek Şenoğlu İpek Şenoğlu (born 8 June 1979), nicknamed İpeko, is a former Turkish tennis player. She first made history in June 2004, when she was accepted into the women's doubles qualifying for Wimbledon. Though Şenoğlu did not advance into the ma ...

- Tennis Player * Ersan İlyasova - Basketball Player *

Kerem Gönlüm Kerem Gönlüm (born November 22, 1977) is a Turkish former professional basketball player for Sigortam.net İTÜ Basket of the Turkish Basketball League. In 2019 January, he started punditry on a local radio station. Gonlum served a one-year ba ...

- Basketball Player * Ceyhun Yıldızoğlu - Basketball Coach * Asya (singer) - Pop Singer, Song-Writer * Tuna Kiremitçi - Author, Poet, Columnist, Composer *

Enis Batur Ahmet Enis Batur (born 28 June 1952, Eskişehir, Turkey) is a Turkish poet, essayist, novelist, and editor. Education Born in Eskişehir on 28 June 1952, Enis Batur studied at St. Joseph High School Istanbul, METU-Sociology (Ankara), and S ...

- Author, Lecturer * Alper Erturk - Professor at

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part ...

* Gürer Aykal - Conductor, Adjunct Professor at Bilkent University * Banu Avar - Writer and journalist * Mete Erpek (Joker) - Rapper

Non-natives

Fikri Cantürk, Professor of Painting, Anadolu University

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Eskişehir is twinned with: * Changzhou, China *

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Germany *

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzan is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and t ...

, Russia *

Kyrenia Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...

, Northern Cyprus *

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

, Austria *

Paju Paju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Paju was made a city in 1997; it had previously been a county (''gun''). The city area of Paju is ,"Paju (Gyeonggi-do Province)." ''Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge''. Naver, 2015. 4 Mar. 2016. ...

, South Korea *

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

, Belgium

Notes

References

* *

External links

District governor's official website

District municipality's official website

Eskişehir Police Headquarters

Eskişehir News

Eskişehirspor Sports Club
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eskisehir Cities in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey