Kayseri

History

The site of the present city was still interspersed with salt lakes and swamps until the 4th century, some of which were drained only in the last century. Since Hittite times the place was called Mazaka. In Hellenistic times, the kings of Cappadocia resided here and Eusebeia, as Mazaka was also called at that time, formed one of the two national centers along with Tyana in the south.

According to Strabon, the city was still unfortified and surrounded by predatory tribes in his time. The surrounding land was barren, sandy and stony, the city itself "waterless". Numerous "fire pits" seem to have survived from the volcanic activity around Erciyes at that time. The supply of wood over the slopes of the volcanic mountain was therefore also difficult. In the plain around the city flowed the swampy Melas River (Greek Μέλας), today's Karasu Çayı (both names mean "black river"), a tributary of the Delice Çayı, called Cappadox in ancient times and in turn a tributary of the Kızılırmak or Halys. By damming the Melas at its mouth, the Cappadocian king Ariarathes created a "sea-like lake" with some islands. However, the breach of the dam caused a flood of mud all along the lower reaches of the Halys, namely among the Galatians of Phrygia, who then demanded compensation.

Around 77 BC, the city was captured for the second time by the Armenian Great King Tigranes II, who once again had numerous inhabitants deported to his new capital Tigranokerta in northern Mesopotamia. Only after the conquest of this place by the Romans under Pompeius (69 B.C.) could the resettled population return. With the death of its last king Archelaos, Cappadocia lost its independence in 17 AD and was transformed into the Roman province of Cappadocia under Emperor Tiberius. Mazaka-Eusebeia now served as the provincial capital and was given the name Caesarea (Greek Kaisáreia). After the division of Cappadocia under Emperor Valens, Caesarea was the capital of Cappadocia prima.

According to Christian tradition, Christianity found favor among the citizens of the city early on (1 Pet 1:1 EU). At the beginning of the 3rd century, Caesarea was a center of Christian theological education. Caesarea experienced its heyday in the 4th century. The social works (hospitals, old people's homes, feeding the poor) that Basil of Caesarea established there in the second half of the fourth century were famous in antiquity. The new settlement grew rapidly, while the old quarters gradually decayed (remains can still be found today).

After troubled times, the city was lost to the Byzantine Empire around 1077. In 1082 it came into the possession of the Danishmen, and during the 1st Crusade (1096-1099) temporarily into that of the Crusaders under Gottfried von Bouillon. In the 12th and 13th centuries it was temporarily the residence of the Seljuks and experienced a second period of prosperity. After further conquests, it was ruled by the Mongols. Subsequently Ottoman Kayseri became Mongol again in 1401 under Timur, and Ottoman again from 1468. The following long period of peace allowed an upward development as a provincial city.

Around 1900, the construction of the new town north of the citadel took place. Many buildings from this period have been preserved. Here you can also find the oldest psychiatric clinic of modern times, where therapy was given with the help of music - a revolutionary method of treatment at that time. In the city center there are the walls of the fortress and several Seljuk mosques of the Ulu Cami (centerless columned hall) type.

On December 17, 2016, according to the Doğan Haber Ajansı news agency, an explosion occurred at the entrance gate of Erciyes University. The detonation hit a passing public bus carrying soldiers of the Turkish Armed Forces. According to military sources, 13 people were killed and several injured. Turkey's deputy prime minister, Veysi Kaynak, told NTV television that "insidious interest groups" had targeted members of the Kayseri air force brigade. Just a week earlier, 44 people were killed in bombings in Istanbul.

The nearby volcanic mountain Erciyes


The fortification walls of Kayseri in 1897

Population

By Law No. 3508, the provincial capital of Kayseri was declared a metropolitan municipality (Büyükşehir Belediyesi) and at the same time separated into two counties: Kocasinan and Melikgazi. Later, the area of the "core city" was expanded to three more counties: Hacılar, Talas and İncesu, with the first two counties being newly formed. Finally, Law No. 6360 extended the metropolitan municipality area to all counties/municipalities and declared the villages and municipalities therein as mahalle. This administrative reform came into effect in 2013/2014, scheduled for March 30, 2014 - the day of the local elections.

Under the 2012 Metropolitan Law, the provincial boundary is considered the city boundary. Consequently, the city districts now also count as part of the city. The narrower core city, which consists of the districts of Kocasinan, Melikgazi and Talas, has a population of about 1 million.

Population figures according to censuses 1927 to 2000

The following table provides information on the development of the population figures of the city (Şehir), district (İlçe) and province (İl) of Kayseri. The figures were taken from the results of the censuses of the indicated years published as PDF files, available from the library of the TURKSTAT (TÜİK) and from the census page of the (TÜİK) for the years 1965 to 2000 (only in Turkish).

Since the central county of the provincial capital (Merkez Ilçe) no longer existed as of 1990, the values of the top two rows were obtained by adding the results of Kocasinan and Melikgazi.

Region	1927	1935	1940	1945	1950	1955	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	2000
City (Şehir)	39.544	46.181	52.467	57.864	65.488	82.405	102.596	126.653	160.985	207.037	281.320	373.937	421.362	536.392
central circle (Merkez)	100.006	114.781	127.875	140.861	155.699	179.651	193.560	222.699	268.482	326.459	421.123	488.429	490.143
Province (İl)	250.490	310.458	342.969	370.089	403.861	422.010	480.387	536.206	598.693	676.809	778.383	864.060	943.484	1.060.432
Turkey	13.648.270	16.158.018	17.820.950	18.790.174	20.947.188	24.064.763	27.754.820	31.391.421	35.605.176	40.347.719	44.736.957	50.664.458	56.473.035	67.803.927

Lord Mayor

With date and election result

Niyazi Bahçecioğlu (December 9, 1973) Niyazi Bahçecioğlu (1977) Fevzi Yetkiner (September 23, 1980) Yalçın Besceli (March 9, 1983)

Hüsamettin Çetinbulut (March 25, 1984) Niyazi Bahçecioğlu (March 26, 1989) Şükrü Karatepe (March 27, 1994) Mehmet Özhaseki (June 23, 1998)

Mehmet Özhaseki (April 18, 1999 / with 40%) Mehmet Özhaseki (March 24, 2004 / with 70.2 %) Mehmet Özhaseki (March 29, 2009 / with 60.5 %) Mehmet Özhaseki (March 30, 2014 / with 59%)

Mustafa Çelik (February 15, 2015 / with 69.5 %)

Kitchen

The city is famous for its air-dried beef ham (Pastırma), garlic sausage Sucuk and stuffed dumplings Mantı.

Worth seeing

In the surrounding area there are several places of interest, among others

• The Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator
• The excavations of Kültepe (the Bronze Age Kaneš)
• The Hittite rock relief of Fıraktın
• The Hittite rock relief of Hanyeri
• Mimarsinan, the birthplace of the architect Sinan
• In the place Gezi an underground city
• The Soğanlı Valley with numerous cave churches
• The underground city at the foot of Ali Dağı in Talas district.
• The Greek Orthodox Panaghia Church, located in Talas, which was converted into a mosque

• The Kapuzbaşı waterfalls located in the border area with Adana.
• The Sultan Sazlığı National Park, located to the southeast.
• Lake Tuzla, which is also used for salt production
• The Yamula Reservoir
• Rock caves in Erkilet district

Development of Erciyes Mountain into a winter sports resort

With investments amounting to €300 million, the mountain is to be developed for winter sports. Several ski slopes and a small artificial lake will be built at the foot of Erciyes Dağı. After the completion of the Erciyes Master Plan, the ski slope will be 160 km long in total. In addition, there will be 5000 overnight accommodations. The work was completed in early 2013. There will also be a fun park for freestyle snowboarders and skiers. The city has ambitions to make the ski resort the largest in Turkey, attracting mainly European winter sports enthusiasts.

Reforestation of Ali Mountain

To make the city more attractive, the Ali Dağı was reforested. The total area covers 550 hectares. First, the front side of the mountain visible from the city (210 hectares) was planted. Here, 180,000 saplings were planted and irrigated by the end of 2007. A total of 800,000 trees were planted.

The reforestation of the Ali Dağı


Talas, Panaghia Church (converted into mosque)

Climate

Kayseri has warm summers and cold winters due to its location in the area of continental climate. The warm days start in April and last until October. Maximum temperatures are reached between July and August. The weather is then very warm and dry. The months of April and May are known for their period of high precipitation.

Kayseri, Kocasinan (1053 m)

Climate diagram

J F M A M J J A S O N D     31   4 -6     35   6 -5     41   12 -1     53   18 4     57   22 7     37   27 10     14   31 13     6.1   31 12     11   27 8     37   20 4     38   12 -1     39   6 -4 Temperature in °C, precipitation in mm Source: State Meteorological Office of the Turkish Republic, normal period 1981-2010; wetterkontor.de (humidity)

 

Monthly average temperatures and precipitation for Kayseri, Kocasinan (1053 m) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature (°C) 4,2 5,8 11,6 17,7 22,2 26,8 30,7 30,9 26,7 20,2 12,2 6,1 Ø 18 Min. temperature (°C) −6,2 −5,2 −1,2 3,6 7,0 10,1 12,6 12,2 7,9 4,2 −0,7 −4,3 Ø 3,4 Temperature (°C) −1,5 0,1 5,0 10,8 15,0 19,3 22,7 22,3 17,5 11,8 5,0 0,4 Ø 10,8 Precipitation (mm) 30,5 34,5 41,1 53,3 57,2 37,3 14,1 6,1 10,5 37,4 38,3 39,3 Σ 399,6 Sunshine hours (h/d) 2,8 3,9 4,9 6,2 8,2 10,3 11,7 11,2 8,8 6,4 4,4 2,6 Ø 6,8 Rainy days (d) 10,6 11,2 11,8 13,0 13,2 8,5 2,5 1,9 3,4 7,5 9,1 11,3 Σ 104 Humidity (%) 78 74 67 61 61 55 49 48 50 59 72 79 Ø 62,7 Temperature 4,2 −6,2 5,8 −5,2 11,6 −1,2 17,7 3,6 22,2 7,0 26,8 10,1 30,7 12,6 30,9 12,2 26,7 7,9 20,2 4,2 12,2 −0,7 6,1 −4,3 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec   Precipitation 30,5 34,5 41,1 53,3 57,2 37,3 14,1 6,1 10,5 37,4 38,3 39,3   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source: State Meteorological Office of the Turkish Republic, normal period 1981-2010; wetterkontor.de (humidity)

Media

TV channels

e-haber Erciyes TV Kampüs TV Channel38

KAYTV tv Kayseri TV 1

 

Radios

38 Kent FM Anadolu FM Arifhan FM Type FM Birlik FM

Cağri FM Can Radyo Deniz FM Dünya FM Erciyes FM

Furkan Radyo Gözde FM Kayseri FM Radyo Radyo FM Kolej FM

Radyo Life Radyo 38 Radyo AS Radyo Han Radyo Plus

Safak Radyo Üniversite FM

 

Newspapers

Büyük Kayseri Erciyes Gazetesi Kayseri Haber Kayseri Manşet

Kayseri Olay Ülker Gazetesi Yeni Kayseri Yeni Sabah

Sports

Kayserispor soccer club plays in the Turkish Süper Lig. It was founded in 1966 and wears the colors red-yellow. Kayserispor has been champion in the second division several times. The breakthrough came in the 2000/2001 season, when Erciyesspor (the club's name at the time) survived the play-offs and was promoted to the top division for the first time. To represent the city's name more obviously, the club simultaneously took over the name Kayserispor from its local rival, which in turn continued to play as Kayseri Erciyesspor, i.e. with the discarded name of the promoted team. The club won the Turkish Cup (Fortis Türkiye Kupasi) in the 2007/2008 season.

The club Kayseri Erciyesspor has managed to rise from the amateur league to the first division within a few years, then reach the final of the Turkish Cup and play in the UEFA CUP. The club played in the second division in the 2008/09 season. In the 2012/13 season they managed to get promoted to the Süperliga. From the 2013/14 season, there are two teams from Kayseri in the Süperlig.

Kayseri Kaski Spor Kulübü basketball team was founded in 1986 under the name of TED Kayseri Koleji Kulübü. In 2005-2006 it was promoted to the 1st league and finished 9th at that time. In 2009-2010 it was taken over by Panküp Şeker Spor. Due to various problems at Kayseri Şeker Fabrikası, the club was closed down. At the instigation of Mayor Mehmet Özhaseki, an extraordinary meeting was called on August 24, 2011 and the task of ensuring the regular operation of this basketball team was given to Kaski Water Company. Since its promotion, it has been playing both nationally and internationally. The venue for the games is the Kadir Has Congress and Sports Center, located north near Erkilet Airport, with a capacity of 7,500. It hosted various international games during the 2010 Basketball World Cup.

Kadir Has Stadium and Atatürk Sports Center

The stadium (Kadir Has Şehir Stadyumu) has a capacity of 32,864 spectators. It was completed in February 2009 and meets UEFA criteria. The cost of the new construction was TL 56,983,000 (about €30 million). This stadium also hosts international matches of the Turkish national team.

The recently constructed Atatürk Sports Building (Atatürk Spor Kompleksi) includes a swimming pool, a sports salon with a capacity of 1,000, a 1,500-seat grass soccer field, an athletics running track and three tennis courts. Both the swimming pool and the running track meet Olympic criteria.

Stadium data:

Total area	196.000 m²
Spectators	32.864
16 people boxes	24
23 people boxes	2
80 people café	1
100 people restaurant	1
Green space	26.867 m²
Shopping center	5000 m²
Fan article store	1000 m²
Administrative and UEFA offices	5000 m²
Parking lot	1785 PASSENGER CAR

Kadir Has Stadium from outside


Kadir Has Stadium from inside

Economy and transport

Kayseri is one of the most important industrial and commercial centers of the country, the city has the largest industrial area in Turkey. 80 percent of Turkey's furniture production comes from Kayseri, but doors, metals, household goods, foodstuffs are also produced in the city. Kayseri is a transportation hub of Turkey and has central railroad connections in addition to an international airport (Erkilet Airport). Connections to other cities are well developed with highways and multi-lane rural roads.

Erkilet Airport

Between 2005 and 2010, Kayseri Airport was rebuilt to increase its capacity to 3 million for domestic flights (2.5 million for international flights). The airport area now measures 11,000 m². The area that can be used by passengers is now 4000 m².

Streetcar KayseRay

To reduce motorized traffic in the city center, a first streetcar line was built in Kayseri and opened in August 2009. An extension of the first line was put into operation in February 2014, as was a section of a second line. As a result, as of February 2014, the streetcar network in Kayseri has a length of 30.9 km, with 42 stops. Further sections of the line are under construction.

Shopping centers

Opened in December 2011, Forum Kayseri, built on the site of the old stadium, has four floors with a total area of 65,000 m². It is thus currently the largest shopping center in the city.

Name	Area (m²)	Stores	Opening	Location	monthly number of visitors
Forum Kayseri	65.000	190	2011	City center
Başyazıcıoğlu	55.000	70	2011	east
Optimall	50.000	22	2009	east
Meysu	50.000	22	2011	west
Ipeksaray	38.000	50	2006	east	250.000
Kayseri Park	27.000	120	2006	east	680.000

Kayseri Park


Stops (old network plan from 2013, still without the extension from 2014)


Kayseray

Twinning

• Krefeld, Germany
• Yongin, South Korea
• Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Homs, Syria
• Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia)
• Regional Association of Saarbrücken, Germany

Personalities

On October 29, 1950, politician and 11th President of the Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gül was born. Near Kayseri, Sakıp Sabancı, an industrialist and philanthropist, was born in 1933, who established various companies across the country and moved to Adana at a young age to find work. Other industrialists such as Halit Narin (Narin Tekstil), entrepreneur Kadir Has (Has Holding), İzzet Özilhan (Anadolu Grubu), Hacı Boydak (Boydak Holding-İstikbal) or Necati Kurmel (Saray Halı) also come from this city.

• Kazım Abacı (* 1965), politician
• Hulusi Akar (* 1952), politician (AKP)
• Basil of Caesarea (≈330-379), important church teacher, bishop and saint
• Sinan Bolat (* 1988), soccer goalkeeper
• Umut Bulut (* 1983), soccer player
• Oğuz Büyükberber (* 1970), jazz musician
• Atilla Engin (1946-2019), musician, bandleader and composer
• Nebahat Güçlü (* 1965), German-Turkish politician (SPD)
• Sarkis Kalfa († late 1740), Armenian architect.
• Teodor Kasap (1835-1897), editor
• Dikran Khan Kelekian (1868-1951), Armenian-American art dealer and art collector
• Diran Kelekian (1862-1915), Armenian journalist
• Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), American art collector and patron of the arts
• Kenan Kocak (* 1981), soccer player and coach
• Lütfi (1833-1898), Armenian poet and journalist
• Erdal Merdan (1949-2010), playwright and radio playwright working in Germany as well as actor and director
• Mihran Nakkashian (1850-1944), Armenian editor and publicist.
• Celil Oker (1952-2019), writer
• Eren Önsöz (* 1972), broadcaster and filmmaker
• Sinan (≈1490-1588), Ottoman architect
• Ali Turan (* 1983), soccer player
• Hacı-Halil Uslucan (* 1965), German psychologist and sociologist.
• Sakıp Sabancı (1933-2004), entrepreneur
• Menekşe Toprak (* 1970), German-Turkish author, literary translator and cultural journalist
• Sarkis Torossian (1891-1954), Armenian commander in the Ottoman army.
• Mehmet Yıldız (* 1977), German-Turkish politician (Left Party)

Gallery