Kutahya Information


Kütahya , Turkey

Kütahya Clock Tower

Location of Kütahya within Turkey.

Kütahya is located in Turkey Kütahya

Location of Kütahya within Turkey.

Coordinates: 39°25′N 29°59′ECoordinates: 39°25′N 29°59′E

Region     Aegean


Kütahya (Turkish pronunciation: [cyˈtahja]) is a city in western Turkey with 237,804 inhabitants (2011 estimate), lying on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Kütahya Province, inhabited by some 564 294 people (2011 estimate). The region of Kütahya has large areas of gentle slopes with agricultural land culminating in high mountain ridges to the north and west. The city's Greek name was Kotyaion, Latinized in Roman times as Cotyaeum.[1]


History

    3rd millennium BCE: Settled, and known as Kotiaion or Cotyaeum, "the city of the goddess Kotys". It was an important stopover on the road from the Marmara region to Mesopotamia.
    12th century BCE: Incorporated into the Phrygian kingdom, becoming one of the country's most important cities.
    Its Greek name was Kotyaion according to its coins, commonly Latinized as Cotyaion or Cotyaeum, still meaning the city of Kotys.
    The ancient city became part of the Roman province of Phrygia Salutaris.
    It was a centre of heresy from the 2nd century onwards. Socrates of Constantinople (IV, xxviii) speaks of its Novatian bishop. At first a simple suffragan of Synnada, it became an autocephalous archbishopric, probably in the 8th century, and about the tenth appears as a metropolis with three suffragan sees, which were later increased to thirteen (?).

Lequien (I, 851) mentions ten bishops, the last in the 14th century. The first is Cyrus, sent thither by Theodosius II, after four bishops had been slain by the inhabitants.

    Around 700 BCE: Phrygia collapses, but Kotiaion position as a strong city survives.
    1071 : Conquered by the Seljuks.
    Around 1095: Conquered by the Crusaders.
    1182: Reconquered by the Seljuks.
    1302: Becomes capital of the Germiyanid Turkmen principality.
    It was taken and plundered by Timur-Leng (Tamerlane) in 1402.
    1428: Becomes part of the Ottoman Empire.
    1514: Sultan Selim I resettles tile-workers from Tabriz in Kütahya and İznik after defeating the Persians. With this Kütahya emerges as a centre for the Ottoman ceramic industry, producing tiles and faience for mosques, churches and official buildings in places all over the Middle East.
    19th century: With the fast growth of Eskişehir 70 km away, Kütahya has lost much of its regional and economic importance.

Economy

The industries of Kütahya have long traditions, going back to ancient times. Kütahya is famous for its kiln products, such as tiles and pottery, which are glazed and multicoloured.[2] Modern industries are sugar refining, tanning, nitrate processing and different products of meerschaum, which is extracted nearby. The local agricultural industry produces cereals, fruits and sugar beet. In addition stock raising is of much importance. Not far from Kütahya there are important mines extracting lignite.

Kütahya is linked by rail and road with Balıkesir 250 km (155 mi) to the west, Konya 450 km (280 mi) to the southeast, Eskişehir 70 km (43 mi) northeast and Ankara 300 km (186 mi) east.

Culture

Kütahya ceramics, Pitcher, second half of the 18th century

Kütahya's old neighbourhoods are dominated by traditional Ottoman houses made of wood and stucco, some of the best examples being found along Germiyan Caddesi. It has many historical mosques such as Ulu Camii, Cinili Camii, Balikli Camii and Donenler Camii. The Şengül Hamamı is a famous Turkish bath located in the city

The town preserves some ancient ruins, a Byzantine castle and church. During late centuries Kütahya has been renowned for its Turkish earthenware, of which fine specimens may be seen at the national capital. The Kütahya Museum has a fine collection of arts and cultural artifacts from the area.

The house where Hungarian statesman Lajos Kossuth lived in exile between 1850-1851 is preserved as a museum.

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