Geography

Helvadere is on the western slopes of Mount Hasan

Mount Hasan

Mount Hasan is an inactive stratovolcano in Aksaray province, Turkey. With an altitude of 3,253 m , it ranks as the second highest mountain of central Anatolia...

 at about 1350 m (4,429.1 ft). It is 30 km (18.6 mi) south of Aksaray

Aksaray

Aksaray is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital district of Aksaray Province. According to 2009 census, population of the province is 376 907 of which 171,423 live in the city of Aksaray. The district covers an area of , and the average elevation is , with the highest...

. The midtown coordinates are 38°11′40"N 34°12′20"E . The population is 2877 as of 2009

History

Helvadere is situated next to ruins of the ancient town Nora, which was an important town in Hellenistic Capadocia. Eventually, the town lost its former importance and in the middle ages it was a small village named Harladere. Evliya Çelebi

Evliya Çelebi

Evliya Çelebi was an Ottoman traveler who journeyed through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years.- Life :...

 in his Seyahatname

Seyahatname

Seyâhatnâme is a Persian term, also used in Ottoman Turkish, which means "book of travels", denoting a literary form and tradition whose examples can be found throughout centuries in the Middle Ages around the Islamic world, starting with the Arab travellers of the Umayyad period.An outstanding...

 describes Harladere as a village of 65 houses; the majority of the population being Turk

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...

, but also with a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

minority. In the early 20th century, the name was Halvadara. But in 1968 Halvadara was decleared a town named Helvadere.

Economy

Helvadere is a typical agricultural town. Patato, apple and cherry are among the more important crops. Some members of the town work in west Europe as industrial workers (gastarbeiter) and they also contribute to town economy.