Yeşilyuva (former Kayser) is a

belde Belde (literally "town", also known as ''kasaba'') means "large village with a municipality" in Turkish. All Turkish province centers and district centers have municipalities, but the villages (and also subdistricts) are usually too small to have ...

(town) in

Denizli Province Denizli Province ( tr, ) is a province 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 the west and Muğla to the s ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Geography

Yeşilyuva is a town in

Acıpayam Acıpayam is a town and a rural district of Denizli Province in high country between the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. A plain, watered by two reservoirs, known for growing melons and watermelons, on the road between the city of D ...

district of Denizli Province. It is situated in a basin at , the main river being Honaz which is a tributary of Büyükmenderes River (historical ''Maeander'') The population of Yeşilyuva was 4920. as of 2012.

History

The area around Yeşilyuva was inhabited during the ancient ages by

Luvian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian languages, Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiy ...

Arzawa Arzawa was a region and a political entity (a " kingdom" or a federation of local powers) in Western Anatolia in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC (roughly from the late 15th century BC until the beginning of the 12th century BC). The core ...

Hitites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...

, and

Lydians The Lydians (known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the Anat ...

. The ruins of

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 ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

town Diokasareia (

Keretapa Ceretapa or Keretapa ( grc, τὰ Κερέταπα), also called Diocaesarea or Diocaesareia or Diokaisareia (Διοκαισάρεια), was a Graeco-Roman town of Phrygia Pacatiana. It minted coins bearing the demonym Κερεταπεύς. The coi ...

) are near the town. But the present town was founded in 13th century by a

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 des ...

tribe of Çelebi, soon after the area was incorporated into Seljuk realm. Two of the earliest settlers were Semarkandi Baba (from

Semerkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zi ...

, modern

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

) and Ahi Kayser, an Ahi, specialized on tannery. Hence the town was named Kayser. The town flourished in shoe making and in 1381 it was captured by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In 1871 it was declared a seat of district (a subunit of the province). But Kayser residents opposed public servants appointed to work in district offices and upon their request the administrative status of the town was reduced to that of township in 1908. The town was renamed as Yeşilyuva in 1925.

Economy

Yeşilyuva residents are expert shoe makers. Up to 1986, the shoes were produced in home shops. After the construction of industrial complex of the town the production figures are on the rise. Presently the production averages 3,000,000 pairs a year. Other economic activities (like grape farming) are only of minor importance Mayor's page
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References

Towns in Turkey Villages in Acıpayam District {{Acıpayam-geo-stub