Niksar, historically known as Neocaesarea (Νεοκαισάρεια), is a city in

Tokat Province Tokat Province () is a province in northern Turkey. Its area is 10,042 km2, and its population is 596,454 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast. ...

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 ...

. It is the seat of Niksar District.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023. Its population is 37,017 (2022). It was settled by many empires. Niksar is known as "

Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

of North-Anatolia" due to its production of many kinds of fruits and vegetables. On May 2, 2018, Niksar was included in the World Heritage tentative list.

History

Niksar has been ruled by the Hittite,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, Pontic,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, Danishmend,

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

and Ottoman Empires. It has always been an important place in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

because of its location, climate and productive farmland. It was known as Cabira in the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

( in

). It was one of the favourite residences of

Mithridates VI Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...

, who built a palace there, and later of King Polemon I and his successors.

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

, 1907, ''s.v.'' Neocaesarea In 72 or 71 BCE, the Battle of Cabira during the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies, dragging the entire east of th ...

took place at Cabira, and the city passed to the Romans. Niksar was called Diospolis, Sebaste, and Neokaisareia during the Roman period.

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

made it a city and gave it the name of Diopolis, while Pythodoris, widow of Polemon, made it her capital and called it Sebaste. It is not known precisely when it assumed the name of Neocaesarea, mentioned for the first time in Pliny, "Hist. Nat.", VI, III, 1, but judging from its coins, one might suppose that it was during the reign of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

. In 344 the city was completely destroyed by an earthquake Neocaesarea became part of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

when the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. What is being divided is called the ''dividend'', which is divided by the ''divisor'', and the result is called the ...

into two parts in AD 395. Another earthquake occurred in 499, the 499 Nicopolis earthquake. During the Middle Ages, the Muslims and Christians disputed the possession of Neocaesarea, and in 1068 a

general, Melik-Ghazi, whose tomb is still visible, captured and pillaged it. When the

Seljuqs The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of the S ...

raided

in 1067, Neocaesarea was conquered by Afşın Bey, one of the commanders of

Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second List of sultans of the Seljuk Empire, sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk (warlord), Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty and the empire. He g ...

. The Byzantines retook the area in 1068. Conquered by

Artuk Bey Zaheer-ul-Daulah Artuk Beg, known as Artuk Bey, was a Turkish commander of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century, chief of the Oghuz tribe of Döğer, and eponymous founder of the Artuqid dynasty. His father's name was Eksük. He was the Se ...

after the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...

, Neocæsarea once again returned to Byzantium in 1073. The city became part of the domain of Roussel de Bailleul, a Norman mercenary who had rebelled against the Byzantine empire, and who held the town until 1075. Melik Gümüştekin Ahmet Gazi (better known as Danishmend Gazi), founder of the Danishmend, was the next conqueror of Neocaesarea. After the conquest the Gazi made it his capital city, and, under the name Niksar, became a center of science and culture. The Danishmend Gazi's mausoleum stands in a large cemetery just outside the town. In 1100, Bohemond I of Taranto was held prisoner in Niksar castle until 1103. By 1175, during the reign of Kılıç Arslan II, Niksar was dependent on the Seljuks of Rum. After the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

invasion of the 13th century, Niksar was governed by the Eretnids and then the Beylik of Tacettin, a beylik and became the center of the latter principality. After Kadı Burhanettin (who conquered Niksar in 1387) was killed in battle, the people of Niksar sought aid from the Ottoman Sultan

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

. The Sultan's son,

Süleyman Çelebi Süleyman Çelebi (also Emir Süleyman; – 17 February 1411) was an Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire for several years during the Ottoman Interregnum. There is a tradition of western origin, according to which Suleiman th ...

, took Niksar for the Ottomans. In the later Ottoman period, Niksar became part of

. Fatih Mehmet launched a raid on

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

from Niksar, and

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

and

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

raided the east from there. The town was predominantly Muslim in the mid 17th century.

Ecclesiastical history

Neocaesarea was an episcopal see in the late Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus. At first called Cabira, it became the civil and religious metropolis of Pontus. In around 315, the Synod of Neo-Caesarea was held there. It is now one of the bishoprics listed in the ''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides nam ...

'' as

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

s and is referred to as Neocaesarea in Ponto to distinguish it from Neocaesarea in Syria.

Bishops

Noted bishops include Saints Gregory Thaumaturgus, Paul of Neocaesarea, and Thomas, a 9th-century martyr.

Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...

claimed that about 240, when

Gregory Thaumaturgus Gregory Thaumaturgus or Gregory the Miracle-Worker (, ; ; ), also known as Gregory of Neocaesarea, was a Christian bishop of the 3rd century. He has been canonized as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Biography Gregory was born arou ...

was consecrated bishop of his native city, Neocæsarea had only seventeen Christians and that at his death (270) it counted only seventeen pagans. In 315 a great council was held there, the acts of which are still extant. In the early church baptism was generally by immersion. Baptism by perfusion, that is by pouring the water over the candidate, was permitted in the case of the seriously ill and where sufficient water for immersion was unobtainable or impractical, as in, for example, prisons. The Council of Neocaesarea ruled that individuals baptized by perfusion were disqualified from being presbyters. This became an issue in the case of

Novatian Novatian ( Greek: , , ) was a scholar, priest, and theologian. He is considered by the Catholic Church to have been an antipope between 251 and 258. Some Greek authors give his name as Novatus, who was an African presbyter. He was a noted theo ...

, who had received baptism by perfusion when dangerously ill."Sacraments of the Orthodox Church", ''The Church Eclectic'', 1901
/ref> Being early placed at the head of an ecclesiastical province, Neocæsarea had four suffragan sees about 640 ("Ecthesis" of pseudo-Epiphanius, ed.

Heinrich Gelzer Heinrich Gelzer (1 July 1847 – 11 July 1906) was a German classical scholar. He wrote also on Armenian mythology. He was the son of the Swiss historian Johann Heinrich Gelzer (1813–1889). He became Professor of classical philology and an ...

, 539), retaining them until the tenth century, when Trebizond obtained its independence and, by degrees, the other three suffragans were suppressed. In 1391 the Archdiocese of Neocaesarea was confided to the metropolitan of Trebizond (Miklosich and Müller, "Acta", II, 154). About 1400 there was, however, a regular metropolitan (op. cit., II, 312), residing at

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

. Among the twenty-seven bishops of this city mentioned by

Le Quien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. Biography Le Quien studied at , Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made ...

, the most noted are Saints Gregory Thaumaturgus, Paul of Neocaesarea, and Thomas, a 9th-century martyr.

Geographic location

Niksar is approximately . It is located at 40°35' north latitude and 36°58' east longitude. Its average altitude is 350 m above sea level. It is surrounded by

Erbaa Erbaa is a town in Tokat Province in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Erbaa District.Almus on the south,

Başçiftlik Başçiftlik is a town in Tokat Province in the Black Sea region of 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 Euro ...

on the southeast and Akkuş on the north. It is one of the five largest counties of Tokat. The Canik Mountains are to the north, Dönek Mountain to the south, and the Niksar Lowland is situated between these mountains. The Niksar Lowland is one of the most important lowlands of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Region. The Canik Mountains are covered with plateaus that lie parallel to the Black Sea. Çamiçi High Plateau is one of the most important ones. Niksar lands are irrigated by large and small tributaries of the

Kelkit River The Kelkit River ( or ''Kelkit Çayı''), is a river in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the longest tributary of the Yeşilırmak. Its name derives from the Armenian ''Gayl get'' ( 'wolf river', Kayl ked in Western Armenian pronunciation ...

. Forests cover 53% of the plateau, and pasture 12%; 32% of the land is devoted to agriculture, and only 3% is unsuitable for farming. Beech, pine, horn beech, and spruce trees can be found in the higher altitudes to the north of Niksar. In the lowlands there are poplar and willow trees, and fruit trees in the valleys. Polecats, rabbits, wolves, foxes, lynxes, bears, and pigs are the main hunting animals that live in the mountains and forests. Partridges, quail and ducks are among the more important game birds found here. Niksar has a transitional

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

and

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

. It is generally cold and snowy in winter, and hot and moderately dry in summer.

Cuisine of Niksar

The most remarkable feature of traditional

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

-Niksar houses is the kitchen. Called ''Aşevi'' or ''Aşgana'' in the local dialect, the kitchen is usually the largest room of the house and serves as a sort of lounge for the family. The typical kitchen has a fireplace on one side used for cooking or washing and a storeroom on the other in which dried foods, preserves, sauces, cheese and grape leaves are kept. Beside the storeroom is a wooden granary with partitions for storing cereals and legumes. In Turkey, it is common to eat meals around a low table. The famous local foods of Niksar are walnut, tomato paste and grape leaves which is a main ingredient of ''

dolma Dolma ( Turkish for "stuffed") is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat, offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside either a leaf wrapping or a hollow or h ...

'', a very popular dish in Turkey.

Places of interest

* Çamiçi High Plateau

References

Bibliography

* The entry cites: ** William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (London, 1870), I, 462, II, 418, s. v
Cabira
an
Neocaesareia
** **CUINET, La Turquie d'Asie, I (Paris, 1892), 733-35; **CUMONT, Studia Pontica

External links

Official website of the Niksar Municipality
{{Authority control Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Pontus (region) Roman sites in Turkey Populated places in Niksar District Catholic titular sees in Asia World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey District municipalities in Turkey