Serinhisar is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Denizli Province Denizli Province () () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in Western Anatolia, on high ground above the Aegean coast. Neighbouring provinces are Uşak to the north, Burdur, Isparta, Afyon to the east, Aydın, Manisa to t ...

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 ...

. Its area is 256 km², and its population is 14,355 (2022).

Name

Other names include ''Karia'' (in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) and ''Kızılhisar'' (literally "a red castle"). The latter is the name given by the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

as there were brick built fortifications here. The name was changed to Serinhisar (literally "a cool castle") in 1987, apparently because ''red castle'' was too symbolic of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

History

The area was first settled by the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

in 1500 BC, and later passed into the hands of the

Lydians The Lydians (Greek language, Greek: Λυδοί; known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform Wikt:𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭, 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were an Anatolians, Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spo ...

(800 BC),

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns (546 BC),

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

(440 BC),

Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians (, ) were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Essentially an Ancient Greece, ancient ...

(334 BC) and

Romans 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 ...

(133 BC). When the Roman Empire was divided in 395 the area remained within 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 ...

(

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 ...

) and was then possessed by the

in 1077, who ruled until 1308.

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

s (from

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...

' Avsar and Kayi tribe) were settled in the district in this period. Seljuk rule was interrupted by the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

, and

Timurlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeated ...

, who left the area under the rule of the

Germiyan dynasty Germiyan, or the Germiyanids (Old Anatolian Turkish: ; or ), were a dynasty that controlled parts of western Anatolia from to 1429. Germiyan first appeared in 1239 near Malatya tasked with suppressing the Babai revolt. The tribe relocated t ...

, from whom it passed to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1429. The castle fell into ruin in the Ottoman period and was broken up for building materials, being finally demolished in 1954.

The battle of Kazıkbeli

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 ...

in 1148 the French king was proceeding eastwards having crossed the

Menderes River Menderes may refer to: Geography and places in Turkey * Menderes (Istanbul Metro), an underground rapid transit station * Menderes, İzmir, a district of İzmir Province * Büyük Menderes River The Büyük Menderes River ("Great Meander", ...

but was stalled at the pass of Kazıkbeli, near Kızılhisar, by the Seljuk armies.

Composition

There are 11

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Serinhisar District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023. * Aşağı * Ayaz * Cumhuriyet * Kaya * Kocapınar * Orta * Pınarcık * Şair Eşref *

Yatağan The yatagan, yataghan, or ataghan (from Turkish ''yatağan''), also called varsak, is a type of Ottoman knife or short sabre used from the mid-16th to late 19th century. The yatagan was extensively used in Ottoman Turkey and in areas under imme ...

* Yenice * Yüreğil

Serinhisar today

Today Serinhisar is known for its ''leblebi'' (roasted chick peas), pottery, ropemaking and shoemaking. This is a rural area and its people are hospitable and warmblooded.

References

Populated places in Denizli Province Districts of Denizli Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey {{Denizli-geo-stub