Geography

Kemerhisar at 37°49′N 34°34′E is a part of Bor district of Niğde Province. Distance to Bor is 8 kilometres (5 mi) and to Niğde

Nigde

Niğde is a small city and the capital of Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The population is 109,724 per the 2010 statistics...

 is 22 kilometres (13.7 mi). It is only 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of Bahçeli

Bahçeli, Niğde

- Geography :Bahçeli is a part of Bor district of Niğde Province. At it is very close to Kemerhisar, another town in Niğde Province. Distance to Kemerhisar is to Bor is and to Niğde is . The population of the town is 2325 as of 2010 - History :...

 another town of Niğde. The population is 5,449 as of 2010.

History

The earliest name of Kemerhisar was Tuwanuwa. It was an important Hitite city on the way to Cicilian Gates on Toros Mountains

Taurus Mountains

Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east...

. During the Hellenistic age, the name was Tyana

Tyana

Tyana or Tyanna was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern south-central Turkey. It was the capital of a Luwian-speaking Neo-Hittite kingdom in the 1st millennium BC.-History:...

. It was briefly the capital of Capodocia, the vassal of Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. Apollonius of Tyana

Apollonius of Tyana

Apollonius of Tyana was a Greek Neopythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. Little is certainly known about him...

, a contemporary of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, was born in Tyana. The town was an important settlement during Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 domination and the 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) aqueduct, which is the symbol of the town, had been constructed by the emperors Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

 and Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

. After the town was incorporated into the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century, the Turks

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...

called the city Kilisehisar (Churchfort). The name was later replaced by the name Kemerhisar (Vaultfort), referring to the historical Roman aquaduct within the town.

Economy

The main economic activity is agriculture. There are apple gardens and vineyards around the town. Onion and popato are also produced. Some Kemerhisar residents work in the sugar mill.