Nevşehir University

Nevşehir (from the Persian compound ''Now-shahr'' meaning "new city"), formerly Neapolis (Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις) and Muşkara, is a largely modern city and the capital district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is 82,110. It is from the capital Ankara and lies within the historical region of Cappadocia.

The town lies at an elevation of and has a continental climate, with heavy snow in winter and great heat in summer. Although Nevşehir is close to the underground cities, fairy chimneys, monasteries, caravanserais and rock-hewn churches of Cappadocia, and has a few hotels, the modern town is not itself a tourist centre. In 2015 a huge underground city was discovered underneath its centre following demolition works intended to clear the central hillside of ramshackle modern housing.

Founded in 2007, Nevşehir University was renamed Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in 2013.

Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport (NAV) is 30 kilometres northwest of the town.The inter-city bus station is about 6 km southwest of the city centre. Two planned high-speed rail services should eventually link Nevşehir to Antalya, Konya, Kayseri and Ankara.

History

Prehistory and ancient history

The Hittites first founded the settlement of Nissa on the slopes of Mount Kahveci in the valley of Kızılırmak (the ancient Halys). This town, along with the region, came under the rule of the Assyrian Empire around the 8th century BC, and was subsequently ruled by the Medes and then by the Persians during the reign of emperor Cyrus the Great in 546 BC. In 333 BC, Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and after his death, the surrounding area came under the rule of the dynasty of Ariarathes with Mazaka (present-day Kayseri) as its capital. The Cappadocian kingdom became a province- of the Roman empire in the reign of Emperor Tiberius.

Medieval history

The so-called underground cities found around Nevşehir may originally have been built to escape persecution by the pagan Roman authorities although others believe they date back to Hittite times. Many of the churches, hewn in the rocks, date from these early years of Christianity. Even when Theodosius I made Christianity the official religion of the empire, the caves offered protection for the local people during raids by the Sassanid Persians circa AD 604 and by the Islamic Caliphate from AD 647 onwards. When Iconoclasm became state policy in the Byzantine empire, again the caves around Nevşehir became shelters for those escaping persecution.

The castle on the hill in the middle of Nevşehir dates from the Byzantine period, when the region was on the frontline in the (holy) wars against the Islamic Caliphate.

At the Battle of Manzikert (present-day Malazgirt) in AD 1071, the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV was defeated by the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan which led to the occupation of Anatolia by the Seljuks by 1074. Along with the rest of the region, Nevşehir became part of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, then fell under the rule of the Karamanids, Karamanid dynasty in 1328 and finally under Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule around 1487 AD when it was renamed Muşkara. It remained relatively insignificant until the early 18th century.

Modern history

The present-day city owes its foundation in the so-called Tulip period, Tulip Age to the grand vizier and son-in-law of the Sultan Ahmed III, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha who was born in Muşkara and later took a great interest in its expansion. The small village with only 18 houses, formerly under the administration of the qadaa, kaza of Ürgüp, was rapidly transformed with the building of mosques (the :c:Kurşunlu Mosque, Nevşehir, Kurṣunlu Mosque), fountains, schools, soup kitchens, inns and bath houses, and its name was changed from Muşkara to "Nevşehir" (meaning ''New City'' in Persian and Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish). In 1730 the grand vizier was assassinated by rebels in İstanbul but by then Nevşehir was firmly established as a town.
The present-day city owes its foundation in the so-called Tulip period, Tulip Age to the grand vizier and son-in-law of the Sultan Ahmed III, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha who was born in Muşkara and later took a great interest in its expansion. The small village with only 18 houses, formerly under the administration of the qadaa, kaza of Ürgüp, was rapidly transformed with the building of mosques (the :c:, Kurṣunlu Mosque), fountains, schools, soup kitchens, inns and bath houses, and its name was changed from Muşkara to "Nevşehir" (meaning ''New City'' in Persian and Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish). In 1730 the grand vizier was assassinated by rebels in İstanbul but by then Nevşehir was firmly established as a town.

According to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82-1893, the kaza of Nevşehir had a total population of 39,822, consisting of 30,370 Muslims, 8,918 Ottoman Greeks, Greeks, 477 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenians, 36 Catholic Church, Catholics and 21 Protestantism, Protestants.

Under the terms of the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations in 1923, the Turkish speaking Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox community (Karamanlides, Karamanlis) of Nevşehir was exchanged for Muslims from Osheni, Shak and Revani villages of Kesriye (today's Οινόη, Κομνηνάδες and Διποταμία villages of Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece).

Economy

The economy of Nevşehir is largely characterized by agriculture as well as tourism.Activities in Nevşehir
/ref>

Gallery

File:Nevsehir Kale june 2017 3540.jpg, Nevşehir Castle from exterior
File:Nevsehir Kale june 2017 3535.jpg, Interior of Nevsehir Castle
File:Nevsehir Kale 2019 1658 panorama.jpg, Nevşehir Castle above the underground city discovered in 2015
File:Nevsehir september 2011 9807.jpg, 18th-century Damat Ibrahim Pasha mosque complex
File:Nevsehir Damat Ibrahim Pasha Mosque june 2017 3558.jpg, Interior of Damat Ibrahim Pasha Mosque
File:Nevsehir september 2011 9834.jpg, Nevşehir's Damat Ibrahim Pasha complex includes a hamam
File:Nevsehir september 2011 9800.jpg, Medrese of Damat Ibrahim Pasha mosque complex
File:MeryemAnaKilisesiNevsehir.jpg, Disused Church of the Virgin Mary in Nevşehir
File:RumHamamıNevşehir2.jpg, Greek (Rum) bathhouse in Nevşehir
File:Nevsehir museum Middle bronze age 2000-1200 BC 2019 1584.jpg, Nevşehir Museum: Middle Bronze Age pot, 2000-1200 BC
File:Nevsehir museum 2019 1576.jpg, Nevşehir Museum: Late Byzantine earthenware vessels
File:Nevsehir museum Terracotta sarcophagi 3-4th AD 2019 1611.jpg, Nevşehir Museum: terracotta sarcophagi, 3rd-4th centuries AD
File:Nevsehir museum 2019 1573.jpg, Nevşehir Museum: ox-drawn cart
File:Nevsehir september 2011 9884.jpg, Nevşehir municipality offices and statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Atatürk
File:NevsehirBelediye.jpg, Nevşehir Municipality

Climate

Nevşehir has a continental climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Dsa,'' Trewartha climate classification: ''Dc''), with cold, snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Precipitation occurs throughout the year, with a slight peak in spring.

Notes

References

Activities in Nevşehir
/ref>
*
*

External links

Nevşehir Travel governor's official website


Nevşehir governor's official website

*
Map of Nevşehir district

Nevşehir municipality's official website


Nevşehir


Some 200 pictures of the town and its sights

Administrative map of Nevşehir district

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevsehir
Nevşehir,
Cities in Turkey
Districts of Nevşehir Province
Populated places in Nevşehir Province
Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia
Roman sites in Turkey
Cappadocia