Develi
Encyclopedia
Develi is a town and district in Kayseri Province
Kayseri Province
The Kayseri Province , in central Turkey, is an area that has been linked with mythological stories as well as important figures in Turkish history. It is located in Anatolia, and surrounded by the Mount Erciyes, the Mount Hasan and the Mount Ali...

 in Central Anatolia Region
Central Anatolia Region
The Central Anatolia Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions.- Provinces :Total population: 12,105,975* Aksaray Province* Ankara Province* Çankırı Province* Eskişehir Province* Karaman Province* Kayseri Province...

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.

History

The town's name is reported to derive from Devle Bey, a Seljuk commander of Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan was the third sultan of the Seljuq dynasty and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty...

, (not to be confused with later Sâhib Ata
Sâhib Ata
Fakhr al-Din Ali, better known as Sâhib Ata or Sâhip Ata, held a number of high offices at the court of the Sultanate of Rum from the 1250s until his death in 1288. He was the dominant personality in Anatolia after the death of the Pervane Mu’in al-Din Suleyman in 1277...

 and Dulkadir Devle Beys
), and who was also named Dev Ali ("Ali the Giant"), and leader of an Oghuz Turkish
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

 clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

 of the same or of a similar name (Devleoğlu or Develioğlu). The commander's 1094-built tomb stands near the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 castle that he had captured (called Zengibar Castle today, not to be confused with homonymous castles in Malatya
Malatya
Malatya ) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province.-Overview:The city site has been occupied for thousands of years. The Assyrians called the city Meliddu. Following Roman expansion into the east, the city was renamed in Latin as Melitene...

 and Bozkır
Bozkir
Bozkır is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2008 census, population of the district is 31,601 of which 7,212 live in the town of Bozkır.The town occupied a central position in ancient Isauria...

) and which commands the plain of Develi.

Zengibar was used as a name for the town until the first centuries of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 rule, as was Everek, the name of a town quarter today, through successive displacements of the center. The fact that the neighboring district of Yeşilhisar
Yesilhisar
Yeşilhisar is a town and district of Kayseri Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is İhsan Ünal ....

 was historically named Develi Karahisar also sometimes led to confusion among the references relating to the two centers.

The town was once composed of four adjoining parts, the Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 town center of Develi, Greek quarter of Agiostan (spelled as "Aygösten" in modern Turkish sources which cite the quarter and/or the name as Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

), and the two Armenian neighborhoods of Evereg and Fenesse (which were separated from each other by the centrally situated Turkish quarter).

The old houses in stone built as of the first half of the 19th century until early 20th century still stand for the most part, although many are in need of repair and of being used in full.

Close to Kayseri
Kayseri
Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...

, by which it is separated by the Mount Erciyes
Mount Erciyes
Mount Erciyes is a massive stratovolcano located 25 km to the south of Kayseri in Turkey.Erciyes is the highest mountain in central Anatolia, with its summit reaching...

, Develi prospered thanks to the trade movements through and around the regional metropolitan center, although the available agricultural land is rather scarce. Aşık Seyranî, one of the most important 19th century poets within the Turkish folk literature
Turkish folk literature
Turkish folk literature is an oral tradition deeply rooted, in its form, in Central Asian nomadic traditions. However, in its themes, Turkish folk literature reflects the problems peculiar to a settling people who have abandoned the nomadic lifestyle...

 tradition, was a native of Develi. The family of Turkey's current president Abdullah Gül
Abdullah Gül
Dr. Abdullah Gül, GCB is the 11th and current President of the Republic of Turkey, serving in that office since 28 August 2007. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002-03, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003-07....

 is from Develi.

Develi's 200-year old Armenian church in Everek quarter is making local news in recent years, since the decaying building had been first transformed into a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 in 1978 and, when routine maintenance
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...

 works were initiated in 1998, it was discovered that the interior decoration was still very much present, simply covered with plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...

 as they were during the 1978 transformation. The discovery led to an ongoing divergence of opinions between the national authority for foundations, responsible for maintenance of mosques in Turkey, which is in favor of covering the cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

 and Virgin Mary figures again, and Kayseri Governorship's cultural protection unit which advocates a restoration to their state of origin, a move that would put an end to the edifice's use as a mosque, this use currently being restrained to a part of the building until an official decision is made. In 2004, in order to protect the cultural heritage, the works were ordered to be stopped by the then mayor of Develi, Ali Ağca, while an intermediate solution was found in between.

Gallery

External sources

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