Pazaryeri, (formerly Ermenı Derbent; , also Ermenı Pazarcık; and simply as Pazarcık) is a town in
Bilecik Province
Bilecik Province () is a province in midwest Turkey, neighboring Bursa to the west, Kocaeli and Sakarya to the north, Bolu to the east, Eskişehir to the southeast and Kütahya to the south. Its area is 4,179 km2, and its population is ...
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
Pazaryeri District
Pazaryeri District is a district of Bilecik Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town Pazaryeri.İlçe Belediyesi Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Its population is 6,243 (2021). The district has several small lakes, as well as a number of buildings in traditional Ottoman style. The mayor is Zekiye Tekin. Pazaryeri is one of the most important hop producers in
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 ...
boza
Boza, also bosa, is a fermented beverage originating from Central Asia and made in parts of the Balkans, Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: maize (corn) and wheat in Turkey ...
.
History
Several
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
votives and inscriptions dedicated to Zeus Bronton and Apollon Phoibos have been found near the town, where he was heavily worshipped and a cult of them was present. A common cult of two gods was rare in the ancient world. There were several
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
dedicated to them.
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
was also worshipped there. Names of the priests in the temples include: ''Trophimas'', '' Aleksandros'', ''Asklepiodotos'', ''Askles'', ''Marcus'', ''Sextus'' and ''Sosigenos''. The cult and the temples remained active until, at least, the 2nd century AD. A Greek metrical epitaph and a bust of a deceased 12-year-old boy called ''Roufeinos'' was also discovered in the city. An inscription dedicated to
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...
, one of only two surviving in the administrative district of Iznik (ancient
Nicaea
Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...
), was also found near the city. In
Hellenistic
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 ...
times, the city was located in the border of the
Kingdom of Bithynia
The Kingdom of Bithynia () was a Hellenistic kingdom centred in the historical region of Bithynia, which seems to have been established in the fourth century BC. In the midst of the Wars of the Diadochi, Zipoites assumed the title of king (''ba ...
, separating it from
Phrygia
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River.
Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...
.
In
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 ...
times, the city was known as Armenokastron (; ). Although the name implies it, there is no record of Armenians living in the city. Armenokastron was one of the most important cities of the
Bithynia
Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...
''
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software.
* Theme (linguistics), topic
* Theme ( ...
''. In the first half of the 12th century, it was captured by the
Seljuks
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 th ...
, but it was recaptured by the Byzantines during the
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...
, subsequently marking the limit of Byzantine hegemony in the East. p. 138, 183-184, 237 The modern town was built on this Byzantine settlement, or somewhere near. In Ottoman times, a military road between the city of Iznik and Pazaryeri was built, probably in the beginning of the 16th century. This road probably ran via Köprühisar and Yarhisar towards Pazaryeri.
During the
Turkish War of Independence
, strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...
Pazaryeri was completely destroyed by burning by the
Greek Army
The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed F ...
during its advance inland in July 1921. However it suffered atrocities months before its complete destruction. A report of the Western Front Command of the Turkish Army dating 16 February 1921 stated that 24 people were murdered inside the town centre while 16 sheep and 10 goats were also among the casualties. On the 15th of April the 1st Infantry Division Command of the Turkish Army reported that 102 inhabitants were taken prisoners while 4 killed, 6 wounded and a woman raped by the Greek Army. During the burning, Turkish elderly inhabitants who could not flee the town were killed. Second-Lieutenant Pantelis Priniotakis describes the events on his diary dating to 13 July 1921 with the following words:
The official result was that 644 buildings, the entire town was destroyed by the Greek Army.