Simav District
Simav District is a Districts of Turkey, district of the Kütahya Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Simav.
of
Kütahya Province
Kütahya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the Aegean Region, Aegean region of Turkey. Its area is 11,634 km2, and its population is 580,701 (2022). In 1990, Kütahya had a population of 578,000.
The neighboring provinces a ...
,
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 ...
. As of 2022, its population is 383. Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''
belde
Belde (literally "town", also known as ''kasaba'') means "large village with a municipality" in Turkish language, Turkish.
All Turkish province centers and district centers have municipalities, but the Villages of Turkey, villages are usually too ...
Official Gazette
A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...
'', 6 December 2012 .
Bahtıllı is located on the upper edge of the Simav Çayı's plain, and is separated by a low range of hills from the Simav Gölü. It is 20 km from the town of
Simav
Simav is a town in Kütahya Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Simav District. 106 km west-southwest of the city of
Kütahya
Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...
, and 118 km south of
Bursa
Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...
.
About 1 km west of the village are the ruins of a square fortress, with walls about 70 m long on each side. The walls are partly overgrown with brush, but they are easily visible on all sides. The north wall is the best preserved, and at the northeast corner a 7 m-tall section is still standing. The walls are made of broken rubbly stone (''"bruchstein"'') embedded in a white mortar matrix; in the past, they would have been clad with large stone blocks. Some of these larger blocks are still visible, embedded in the mortar. The whole complex dates from sometime between the 600s and the 1200s and probably follows an earlier Roman fortress. Numerous
spolia
''Spolia'' (Latin for 'spoils'; : ''spolium'') are stones taken from an old structure and repurposed for new construction or decorative purposes. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice (spoliation) whereby stone that has been quar ...
present in the modern village of Bahtıllı likely came from an earlier settlement near the fortress. The spolia mainly consists of Roman-era fragments, but some early Byzantine column capitals are also present.
An ancient Greek inscription found at Bahtıllı refers to it as "Goloinon
gerousia
The Gerousia (γερουσία) was the council of elders in ancient Sparta. Sometimes called Spartan senate in the literature, it was made up of the two Spartan kings, plus 28 Spartiates over the age of sixty, known as gerontes. The Gerousia ...
" (Γολοινῶν γερουσία), indicating that the place's ancient name may have been Goloē or Goloia. A couple of other inscriptions, dating from the early 4th century, appear to have originally come from the nearby ancient city of
Ankyra
''Ankyra'' is a genus of green algae in the family Characiaceae. This genus of algae is closely related to '' Atractomorpha'' and ''Sphaeroplea''. They are found in stagnant waters.
''Ankyra'' consists of single cells that are planktonic or epi ...
.
Women in Bahtıllı, in addition to working in agriculture or animal husbandry, also contribute to the family economy by hand-weaving and embroidering things like aprons. The aprons are decorated with various floral or geometric designs, with common motifs including
carnation
''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...
s and the
tree of life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
. Historically, local women spun the thread themselves from raw wool fibers, but today they buy factory-spun thread instead. Local women also make fabric waist ties for commercial purposes.