25/1/2008
SIVAS
Category: Belirtilmemiş
SİVAS
Located in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak (ancient Halys) at an altitude of 1,275m/ 4,185 ft, Sivas is the highest city on the central Anatolian plateau. Although excavations made at a mound known as Toprak Tepesi have revealed traces of a Hittite settlement and besides the fact that the region came under the Phrygian, Lydian and Persian domination, almost nothing is known of Sivas' history until the Roman period when a city known as Sebasteia was founded in honor of Emperor Augustus in the late first century BC. Because of its location at the crossroads of the caravan routes between East and West and North and South, the city became an important trade metropolis. Christianity spread in the city in the 2nd century, but in the early 4th century, the Christians suffered from the tyranny of the Emperor Licinius with whom the story of the Fourty Martyrs of Sebasteia is associated. During the Byzantine period, Sebasteia became a bishopric. In the 6th century, Justinian had the walls strengthened but this did not prevent the city to be temporarily occupied by the Sassanid Persians in the late 6th century and by the Ommeyads in the 7th century. The Byzantine Empire having striven for a long time to subdue the small Armenian kingdoms across its borders, in 1021, King Senekerim Hovhannes of Vaspourakan (Van region), also worried by the incursions of the Seljuk Turks into the Byzantine territories in Eastern Anatolia, ceded his dominion to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, receiving in exchange Sebastia, a safer area where an important Armenian population lived. However, the new kingdom lasted only half a century due to the desire of the Byzantines to extinct the Armenian political life and the intolerance of the Greek clergy asking for the conversion of the Armenians to the Greek Orthodox faith: King Senekerim's sons were killed (like the Armenian Bagratid rulers of Kars) in Sebasteia in 1080, and their properties were attached to the Empire.
Following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Byzantines lost their Anatolian provinces to the Seljuk Turks. During much of the 12th century, Sebasteia, renamed Sivas, remained the capital of the powerful emirate of the Danişmend Turks. In 1171, the city was united to the great Seljuk State by Kılıç Arslan II. Sultan Alaaddin Keykubad I (1220-1237) built up fortifications around the city which was no longer protected. Sivas flourished politically and commercially and became a reputed cultural center where beautiful monuments were built. Taken by the Mongols in the 13th century, the city was ruled by Ilkanid governors, of which the Eretnaoğulları who soon declared their independence. Their young and last ruler, Mehmet Bey, was overthrown by Kadı Burhâneddin (1381-1398) of the Karamanoğulları who founded his own state. When he was killed in a battle against the Akkoyunlular (the White Sheep), the local population with their leader Alaeddin decided to deliver Sivas to the Ottoman Sultan Bayezit I in order to free themselves from Karamanid oppression. In 1400, the Mongol Tamerlane destroyed the walls and sacked the city which declined considerably.
Although it never regained its former prosperity, Sivas was an important provincial capital under the Ottoman Empire. From the late 19th century, with the development of railways, the city gained new economic importance.
Following the Congress of Erzurum, between September 4-11,1919, Sivas was the host of the second nationalistic congress which, under the chairmanship of Mustafa Kemal, decided the liberation of Turkey starting the War of Independence.
Sivas is linked by regular flights to Istanbul and Ankara.
Places of interest:
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The Gök Medresesi (the Celestial Medrese), located on Cumhuriyet Caddesi, was built in 1271 by Vizier Sahip Ata during the rule of Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev III. In plan, proportion, and decoration it is the most developed of all Seljuk medreses. The plan follows a traditional four iwan courtyard medrese. The highly decorated central portal is flanked on either side by a red brick minaret decorated with blue glazed tiles. |
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The Çifte Minareli Medrese (the twin minarets medrese) was commissioned by the Mongol Ilkanid governor Şemseddin Mehmet Cüneyt and completed in 1243. The medrese not only served as a coranic school but Islamic law courses were also taught here. In 1882, the medrese, in poor condition, was partly pulled down and the main iwan was temporarily converted into a hospital, then used as a military school. Between 1914-1960 it served as a primary school before it was completely demolished except for the facade with the portal and minarets which was preserved and strengthened with buttresses.
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The Şifaiye Medresesi was built in 1217-1218 at the behest of the Seljuk Sultan İzeddin Keykavus I who liked very much the city of Sivas. The medrese was used as a hospital (darüşşifa in Turkish) and a medical school and was the largest of its kind in Anatolia. Patients suffering from eye, internal and skin diseases were treated in these healing centres. Besides, therapy based on music, faith and suggestion played an important role in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. |
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Buruciye Medresesi is another medrese dating from the time of Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev III and was built in 1271-1272 by Muzaffer Burucerdi (Burujerdi). Its stone carving makes this medrese one of the best examples of Seljuk architecture. Buruciye Medresesi, which is temporarily under restoration, houses the Archaeological Museum. |
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Ulu Cami (the Great Mosque), the oldest mosque in the city, was built by Kızıl Arslan bin Ibrahim in 1196-1197 on a rectangular plan. From the exterior the prayer hall appears long and low, owing to its flat roof supported by wooden beams set on stone piers. The minaret dates from the first half of the 13th century and has an octagonal base decorated with a Kufic in******ion made of turquoise tiles.
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The Museum of Atatürk and Congress: the building, a high school built in 1892 by the Governor Mehmet Memduh Bey, is an example of the 19th century late Ottoman civilian architecture. The school hall was assigned to Mustafa Kemal and his friends as the headquarters where they would hold the Sivas Congress meetings between 4-11 September 1919. The building served as a school until 1981 and, in 1984, was transformed into a museum displaying documents over the War of Independance and the 1919 Congress. The ground floor houses an Ethnographical museum. The museum is located on the Istasyon Caddesi. |
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Toprak Tepesi is a mound with a nice view over the city. It was crowned with a Roman citadel restored by the Byzantines, the Seljuks and the Ottomans. Remains of Hittite houses have been excavated here.
