Manisa
Encyclopedia
Manisa Province
Manisa Province is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the south east, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the north east, and Balıkesir to the north...
.
Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
and by its fertile hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
rich in quantity and variety of agricultural production. In fact, İzmir's proximity also adds a particular dimension to all aspects of life's pace in Manisa in the form of a dense traffic of daily commuters between the two cities, separated as they are by a half-hour drive served by a fine six-lane highway nevertheless requiring attention at all times due to its curves and the rapid ascent (sea-level to more than 500 meters at Sabuncubeli Pass) across Mount Sipylus
Mount Sipylus
Mount Spil , the ancient Mount Sipylus , is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean Region....
's mythic scenery.
The historic part of Manisa spreads out from a forested valley in the immediate slopes of Sipylus mountainside, along Çaybaşı Stream which flows next to Niobe
Niobe
Niobe was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, and she was the sister of Pelops and Broteas, all of whom figure in Greek mythology....
's "Weeping Rock" ("Ağlayan Kaya"), an ancient bridge called the "Red Bridge" ("Kırmızı Köprü") as well as to several tombs-shrines in the Turkish style dating back to the Saruhan period (14th century). Under Ottoman rule in the centuries that followed, the city had already extended into the ondulated terrain at the start of the plain. In the last couple of decades, Manisa's width more than tripled in size across its vast plain formed by the alluvial deposits of the River Gediz, a development in which the construction of new block apartments, industrial zones and of Celal Bayar University
Celal Bayar University
Celal Bayar University or ' is a state university located in Manisa, Turkey. It is one of the third largest universities in Aegean Region with close to 25,000 student body and 1,156 faculty members.- History :...
campus played a key role.
The city of Manisa is also widely visited, especially during March and September festivals, the former festival being the continuation of a five hundred year old "Mesir Paste Distribution" tradition, and also for the nearby Mount Spil national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
. It is also a departure point for other visitor attractions of international acclaim which are located nearby within Manisa's depending region, such as Sardes and Alaşehir
Alasehir
Alaşehir, in Antiquity and the Middle Ages known as Philadelphia , i.e. " brotherly love" is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is situated in the valley of the Kuzuçay , at the foot of the Bozdağ...
(ancient Philadelphia
Philadelphia (disambiguation)
Philadelphia is the largest city in the U.S. state of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia may also refer to:-United States:*Philadelphia, Indiana*Philadelphia, Mississippi*Philadelphia , New York...
) inland. There is a Jewish community.
Name and etymology
Historically, the city was also called Magnesia, and more precisely as Magnesia ad SipylumMagnesia ad Sipylum
Magnesia ad Sipylum , was a city of Lydia, situated about 65 km northeast of Smyrna on the river Hermus at the foot of Mount Sipylus...
to distinguish from Magnesia on the Maeander
Magnesia on the Maeander
Magnesia or Magnesia on the Maeander was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, considerable in size, at an important location commercially and strategically in the triangle of Priene, Ephesus and Tralles. The city was named Magnesia, after the Magnetes from Thessaly who settled the area along with...
at a relatively short distance to the south. Traditional view held that the name "Magnesia" derived from the tribe of Magnetes
Magnetes
The Magnetes were an ancient Greek tribe living in Thessalian Magnesia who took part in the Trojan War. They later also contributed to the Greek colonisation by founding two prosperous cities in Western Anatolia, Magnesia on the Maeander and Magnesia ad Sipylum.According to Hesiod's "Eoiae" or...
who would have immigrated here from Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
at the dawn of the region's recorded history, although a connection with native Anatolian languages
Anatolian languages
The Anatolian languages comprise a group of extinct Indo-European languages that were spoken in Asia Minor, the best attested of them being the Hittite language.-Origins:...
has also been suggested of recent date, particularly on the basis of discoveries made in the Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
archives treating the Luwian western Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
.
The name "Magnesia ad Sipylus" refers to Mount Sipylus
Mount Sipylus
Mount Spil , the ancient Mount Sipylus , is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean Region....
(Mount Spil) that towers over the city and Magnesia became a city of importance starting with the Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
dominion, particularly after the 190 BC Battle of Magnesia
Battle of Magnesia
The Battle of Magnesia was fought in 190 BC near Magnesia ad Sipylum, on the plains of Lydia , between the Romans, led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio and his brother, the famed general Scipio Africanus, with their ally Eumenes II of Pergamum against the army of Antiochus III the Great of the...
. The names "Sipylus" or "Sipylum" in reference to a settlement here are also encountered in some sources, again in reference to the mountain and as abbreviated forms. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, supported by other sources, mentions that formerly in the same place was a very celebrated city which was called "Tantalis" or "the city of Tantalus
Tantalus
Tantalus was the ruler of an ancient western Anatolian city called either after his name, as "Tantalís", "the city of Tantalus", or as "Sipylus", in reference to Mount Sipylus, at the foot of which his city was located and whose ruins were reported to be still visible in the beginning of the...
" whose ruins were still visible around his time. The name is rendered as Μαγνησία in ancient and modern Greek language
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
.
Under Turkish rule, the name attached to the Bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
s of "Saruhan", who founded the Beylik
Anatolian Turkish Beyliks
thumb|350px|Anatolian Turkish Beyliks map.Anatolian beyliks, Turkish beyliks or Turkmen beyliks were small Turkish Muslim emirates or principalities governed by Beys, which were founded across Anatolia at the end of the 11th century in a first period, and more extensively during the decline of the...
which preceded the Ottomans
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...
in the region, has been officially used, along with the name Manisa, for the city and the region alternatively and this until the present period of the Republic of Turkey. The Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish language
The Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
form of the name "Manisa" (ماغنيسا) was usually as it is still used presently, but a spelling with a longer first syllable, transcribed to modern Turkish as "Mağnisa", was also occasionally encountered. During the first centuries of the Ottoman Empire, many of the sons of sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
s received their education in Manisa and the city is still commonly known in Turkey as "the city of shahzades" (Şehzadeler şehri) in Turkey, a distinctive title it shares only with Amasya
Amasya
- History :Its location in this steep valley makes the city a mountain stronghold, easy to defend, and thus Amasya has had a long and prominent history.-Antiquity:...
and Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
.
The English language root word "magnesia", from which the words "magnet
Magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...
" and "magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
" and numerous other derivations
Derivation (linguistics)
In linguistics, derivation is the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing word, e.g. happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine...
were coined, as well as their equivalents in many other languages, derive from the city's name.
Prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
in the Manisa region, although few in number, nevertheless include two very interesting finds that shed much light on western Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
's past. The first are the fossilized footprints, numbering more than fifty and dated to around 20.000-25.000 BC, discovered in 1969 by MTA, Turkey's state body for mineral exploration
Mineral exploration
Mineral exploration is the process of finding ore to mine. Mineral exploration is a much more intensive, organized and professional form of mineral prospecting and, though it frequently uses the services of prospecting, the process of mineral exploration on the whole is much more involved.-Stages...
, in Sindel village near Manisa's depending district of Salihli
Salihli
Salihli is a large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.-Geography:The city of Salihli, the seat of the district, is located on İzmir-Ankara highway and the parallel railway connections. The urban zone is situated on the slopes of Bozdağ mountain chain along the...
and referred to under that village's name. Some of these footprints are on display today in Manisa Museum while their site of origin of Sindel, where there are also prehistoric paintings, will reportedly become Turkey's first geopark
Geopark
A Geopark is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its UNESCO Geoparks International Network of Geoparks programme as follows:...
through a joint project with the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
.
The second finds are tombs contemporaneous with Troy II (3000-2500 BC) and found in the village of Yortan near Kırkağaç
Kirkagaç
Kırkağaç is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 48,303 of which 25,093 live in the town of Kırkağaç...
district center, north of Manisa. Original burial practices observed in these sepulchres led scholars to the definition of a "Yortan culture" in Anatolia's prehistory, many of whose aspects remain yet to be explored.
Luwians, Hittites, Phrygians and Lydians
Central and southern parts of western Anatolia entered history with the still obscure Luwian kingdom of ArzawaArzawa
Arzawa in the second half of the second millennium BC was the name of a region and a political entity in Western Anatolia, the core area of which was centered on the Hermos and Maeander river valleys, corresponding with the Late Bronze Age kingdoms of the...
, probably offshoots, as well as neighbors and, after around 1320 BCE, vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
s of the Hittite Empire. Cybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
monument located at Akpınar on the northern flank of Mount Sipylus, at a distance of 7 km (4 mi) from Manisa on the road to Turgutlu
Turgutlu
Turgutlu is a very large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 140,753 of which 115930 live in the city of Turgutlu.The district covers an area of and the city lies at an elevation of...
is, along with the King of Mira rock relief at Mount Nif
Mount Nif
For other uses of the same name. see NifMount Nif is a mountain in the district of Kemalpaşa, towering over the district center , located immediately to the east of the city of İzmir, in western Turkey...
near Kemalpaşa
Kemalpasa
Kemalpaşa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpaşa town being at a distance of only from the historical and traditional center...
and a number of cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
tablet records are among the principal evidence of extension of Hittite control and influence in western Anatolia based on local principalities. Cybele monument by itself represents a step of innovation in Hittite art where full-faced figures in high relief are rare.
Lydians
The Lydians were the inhabitants of Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian group....
. Such semi-legendary figures like the local ruler Tantalus
Tantalus
Tantalus was the ruler of an ancient western Anatolian city called either after his name, as "Tantalís", "the city of Tantalus", or as "Sipylus", in reference to Mount Sipylus, at the foot of which his city was located and whose ruins were reported to be still visible in the beginning of the...
, his son Pelops
Pelops
In Greek mythology, Pelops , was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. He was the founder of the House of Atreus through his son of that name....
, his daughter Niobe
Niobe
Niobe was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, and she was the sister of Pelops and Broteas, all of whom figure in Greek mythology....
, the departure of a sizable part of the region's population from their shores to found, according to one account, the future Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
in present-day Italy, are all centered around Mount Sipylus, where the first urban settlement was probably located, and date from the period prior to the emergence of the Lydian Mermnad dynasty. It has also been suggested that the mountain could be the geographical setting for Baucis and Philemon
Baucis and Philemon
In Ovid's moralizing fable , which stands on the periphery of Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, which Ovid places in Phrygia, and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes , thus embodying the...
tale as well, while most sources still usually associate it with 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:...
(Hittite Tuwanuwa) in modern-day Kemerhisar
Kemerhisar
- Geography :Kemerhisar at is a part of Bor district of Niğde Province. Distance to Bor is and to Niğde is . It is only west of Bahçeli another town of Niğde. The population is 5,449 as of 2010.- History :...
near 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...
.
In early 7th century BC, the Lydians under the newly established Mermnad dynasty, with the present-day Manisa region as their heartland expanded their control over a large part of Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, ruling from their capital "Sfard" (Sard
SARD
is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts.-History:...
, Sardes, Sardis
Sardis
Sardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...
) situated more inland at a distance of 62 km (39 mi) from Manisa. The vestiges from their capital which reached our day bring together remains from several successive civilizations.
Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, the city was known as Magnesia ad Sipylum
Magnesia ad Sipylum
Magnesia ad Sipylum , was a city of Lydia, situated about 65 km northeast of Smyrna on the river Hermus at the foot of Mount Sipylus...
and played an important role in the history of the epoch by being the place where, in 190 BC, Antiochus the Great was defeated in the Battle of Magnesia
Battle of Magnesia
The Battle of Magnesia was fought in 190 BC near Magnesia ad Sipylum, on the plains of Lydia , between the Romans, led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio and his brother, the famed general Scipio Africanus, with their ally Eumenes II of Pergamum against the army of Antiochus III the Great of the...
by the 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....
. It became a city of importance under the Roman dominion and, though nearly destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, was restored by that emperor and flourished through the Roman empire.
Lost by the Byzantine Empire
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...
in 1076 to the Seljuk
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...
's in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
, the subsequent Crusader victory at the Battle of Dorylaeum (1097) allowed Manisa to be recovered by the Emperor Alexios I. It was an important regional centre through the Byzantine Empire, and during the 13th century interregnum of the Empire of Nicea. Magnesia housed the Imperial mint, the Imperial treasury, and served as the functional capital of the empire until the recovery of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1261. Ruins of the Nicean-era fortifications attest to the city's importance in the Late Byzantine period, a fact also noted by the Byzantine historian George Akropolites, writing in the 13th century.
Turkish era (Seljuk, Saruhan and early Ottoman periods)
Anatolian Turkish Beyliks
thumb|350px|Anatolian Turkish Beyliks map.Anatolian beyliks, Turkish beyliks or Turkmen beyliks were small Turkish Muslim emirates or principalities governed by Beys, which were founded across Anatolia at the end of the 11th century in a first period, and more extensively during the decline of the...
of Saruhan, led by the Bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
of the same name who had started out as a tributary of the Seljuks
Seljuq dynasty
The Seljuq ; were a Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries...
and who reigned until 1346. His sons held the region until 1390, when the first incorporation of their lands into the expanding Ottoman state took place. After a brief interval caused by the Ottoman interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
after the Battle of Ankara
Battle of Ankara
The Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on July 20, 1402, took place at the field of Çubuk between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for...
, Manisa and its surroundings definitely became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1410.
The city remained prosperous and developed steadily, especially as of the mid-15th century. As the central town of the Ottoman Empire's Saruhan sanjak, the city's development was enhanced particularly by its choice as the training ground for shahzades (crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
s), and it stood out as one of the wealthiest parts of the Empire with many examples of Ottoman architecture built. In a practice started by Murad II
Murad II
Murad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....
in 1437, fifteen members of the Ottoman dynasty, including two among the most notable, namely Mehmed II
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...
and Süleyman I, held the administration of the city and of its dependencies in seventeen near-continuous periods until 1595. Although the sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
of Saruhan officially depended the eyalet
Eyalet
Eyalets were a former primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The term is sometimes translated province or government. Depending on the rank of their commander, they are also sometimes known as pashaliks, beylerbeyliks, and kapudanliks.From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth...
of Anadolu
Anatolia Province, Ottoman Empire
The Eyalet of Anatolia was one of the two core provinces in the early years of the Ottoman Empire. It was established in 1393. Consisting of western Anatolia, its capital was Kütahya...
with its seat in Kütahya
Kütahya
Kütahya is a city in western Turkey with 212,444 inhabitants , lying on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Kütahya Province, inhabited by some 517 804 people...
, a large degree of autonomy was left to the princes for them to acquire the experience of government. This practice was discontinued in 1595, largely due to the growing insecurity in the countryside, precursor of Jelali Revolts
Jelali Revolts
Jelali revolts , were a series of rebellions in Anatolia of irregular troops led by provincial administrations known as celalî, against the authority of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. They arose partly as an effort to attain tax privileges...
, and a violent earthquake dealt a severe blow to the Manisa region's prosperity the same year.
Late-Ottoman Manisa
Between 1595–1836, the sanjak of Saruhan (Manisa) remained attached to the Eyalet of AnadoluAnatolia Province, Ottoman Empire
The Eyalet of Anatolia was one of the two core provinces in the early years of the Ottoman Empire. It was established in 1393. Consisting of western Anatolia, its capital was Kütahya...
, as in the time of the Ottoman crown princes. Between 1836–1867 the city and its depending region was made part of the short-lived Eyalet of Aydın, which became a vilayet with the administrative reforms of 1867. During this phase, Saruhan (Manisa) even had an eyalet
Eyalet
Eyalets were a former primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The term is sometimes translated province or government. Depending on the rank of their commander, they are also sometimes known as pashaliks, beylerbeyliks, and kapudanliks.From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth...
of its own under its name as the "Eyalet of Saruhan" between the even shorter period 1845–1847. The seat of the province to which Saruhan sanjak depended was the city of Aydın
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
(1827–1841 and 1843–1846) at first, and was later moved to İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
(1841–1843, 1846–1864).
Manisa was one the first cities in the Ottoman Empire to benefit from the arrival of a railway line, with the 93 km (58 mi) Smyrna Cassaba Railway, whose construction was started from İzmir in 1863 and which reached its first terminus at Manisa's depending Kasaba
Turgutlu
Turgutlu is a very large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 140,753 of which 115930 live in the city of Turgutlu.The district covers an area of and the city lies at an elevation of...
in 1866. This railway was the third started within the territory of the Ottoman Empire at the time and the first finished within the present-day territory of Turkey. Instead of being laid along the direct route eastwards from İzmir to Kasaba, about fifty kilometers in length, the line built drew a wide arc advancing first to the north-west from İzmir, through its Karşıyaka
Karsiyaka
Karşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
suburb to whose foundation it contributed greatly, and curves eastwards only from Menemen
Menemen
Menemen is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey as well as the district's central town. The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by the Gediz River...
on, crossing the former sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
and the present-day province center of Manisa to join Kasaba (now Turgutlu
Turgutlu
Turgutlu is a very large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 140,753 of which 115930 live in the city of Turgutlu.The district covers an area of and the city lies at an elevation of...
) from the north. The first concession under the name was granted to a locally based English entrepreneur named Edward Price, who founded the company and built the line. This railway was extended further east by the same company between 1872–1875 to reach Alaşehir at a distance of 76 km (47 mi) from Kasaba and a connection northwards starting from Manisa itself was built between 1888–1890 to reach the lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
-rich Soma
Soma, Manisa
Soma is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 101,011 of which 74,158 live in the town of Soma...
, another dependency of Manisa, through a 92 km (57 mi) line. Price sold the whole network in 1893 to theFranco–Belgian group Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, which extended it further east to Afyonkarahisar in 1896 and further north to Bandırma in 1912. The line was nationalized
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
in 1934 by the young Republic of Turkey in the frame of a general move started in the 1920s regarding Turkey's railways.
Manisa was occupied by the Greek Army on May 26, 1919 during the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
and recaptured by the Turkish Army on September 8, 1922. According to a number of sources, the retreating Greek army carried out a scorched-earth policy while fleeing from Anatolia during the final phase of the war. Historian of the Middle East, Nettleton Fisher wrote: "The Greek army in retreat pursued a burned-earth policy and committed every known outrage against defenceless Turkish villagers in its path" Kinross wrote, "Already most of the towns in its (Greek army) path were in ruins. Out of the eighteen thousand buildings in the historic holy city of Manisa, only five hundred remained."
Manisa became the centre of Saruhan Province in 1923 under the new Turkish Republic. The province's name was changed to Manisa as the city itself in 1927.
Climate
Manisa has a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
with hot, dry summers lasting a long time and winters being short and cool. Summers in Manisa are hotter than the coast with its western neighbour İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
lying on the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and winters being colder due to its inland location.
Architectural landmarks
Ayse Hafsa Sultan
Ayşe Hafsa Sultan, or in short, Hafsa Sultan , sometimes also transcribed as "A'ishā Hâfize Sultana" in strict transliteration, was the first Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, wife of Selim I and mother of Suleiman the Magnificent...
, Süleyman the Magnificent's mother. In her honor, Mesir Festival (featuring the "Mesir Paste" , a spiced paste in the form of candy, and claimed to restore health, youth and potency, also known in recent years as the "Turkish Viagra") is held every year in March, in the grounds of this mosque, and is an occasion for public gathering as well as attendance by personalities of fame and prominence at national scale.
The mosque is part of a large külliye
Külliye
Külliye, deriving from the Arabic word "kull" is a term which designates a complex of buildings, centered around a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a vakıf , and composed of a medrese, a darüşşifa, kitchens, bakery, hammam, other buildings for various benevolent...
-a religious complex- among whose buildings the hospital "darüşşifa" is particularly notable. Specialized in mental diseases, the medical center was in activity until the beginning of the 20th century when new buildings were built within the same compound. That Turkey's only two institutions specialized on mental health were until recently located in İstanbul district of Bakırköy
Bakirköy
This article is about a neighbourhood in IstanbulBakırköy is a neighborhood, municipality and district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey. The quarter is densely populated, has a residential character and is inhabited by a middle class population...
and in Manisa gave way in Turkey's public lore to gentle innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
s on the challenging spirit of the natives - Manisalı.
One such likeable eccentric of the 20th century was Ahmet Bedevi, the Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
of Manisa or "Manisa Tarzanı", a figure who became a symbol for the city by contributing to raising consciousness for protection of the environment across Turkey and a reference especially since the 1960s when an importation reforestation effort covering thousands of hectares was made in and around Manisa.
The Muradiye Mosque of the 16th century was built by the great architect Mimar Sinan (and completed by Sedefkar Mehmed Agha), and the Murad Bey Medresse now houses the Archaeological Museum of Manisa
Archaeological Museum of Manisa
Archeological Museum of Manisa is an archeological museum within the Manisa Museum, situated in the historic kulliye of Muradiye Mosque. Local and regional artefacts from antique Magnesia, Sardes and other regional towns are displayed. Museum displays cover from the prehistoric times to 20th...
.
Manisa celebrates the Vintage Festival every September, when the fruits of the vineyards are celebrated. The vineyards surround the city and provide dry fruit for export from İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
, and grapes for wine making.
Modern Manisa
| Nr. of persons employed by enterprise |
Nr. of enterprises in the employment segment |
Total employed by enterprise segment |
| Manisa Province | 694 total | 44.449 total |
| 0-9 | 235 | 1.530 |
| 10-19 | 137 | 1.867 |
| 20-49 | 186 | 6.319 |
| 50-249 | 99 | 9.958 |
| 249 and more | 37 | 24.775 |
Manisa and some of its depending district centers have succeeded in solidly clinching an industrial production base in recent decades, in this supported both initially and continuously by the century-old wide-scale agricultural processing and related activities (production of flour and olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, basic textiles, leather goods, agricultural tools and instruments, cotton ginning).
According to the figures published by the Governorship, 694 companies in Manisa Province out of the province's total number of companies of 5.502 for 2007 are certified industrial enterprises and these employ a total of 44.449 people. Within the 694, Manisa center is in the lead with 238 enterprises engaged in industrial production, with the depending centers of Turgutlu
Turgutlu
Turgutlu is a very large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 140,753 of which 115930 live in the city of Turgutlu.The district covers an area of and the city lies at an elevation of...
(125 industrial enterprises), Akhisar
Akhisar
Akhisar is a county district and its town center in Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Western Turkey...
(100), Salihli
Salihli
Salihli is a large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.-Geography:The city of Salihli, the seat of the district, is located on İzmir-Ankara highway and the parallel railway connections. The urban zone is situated on the slopes of Bozdağ mountain chain along the...
(78) closely contending, and Saruhanlı
Saruhanli
Saruhanlı is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 68,134 of which 13,025 live in the town of Saruhanlı. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of .-External links:* *...
(33), Alaşehir (30), Kula
Kula, Manisa
Kula is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 52,986 of which 24,217 live in the town of Kula...
(28), Demirci
Demirci
Demirci is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 59,314 of which 21,230 live in the town of Demirci. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of .-Economy:Demirci is one of the...
(20) and Soma (17) following.
Among leading industrial activities Manisa companies are engaged in are production of foodstuffs (196 companies), building materials (114), metal goods (85), as well as textile industry and clothing industry (46) and cotton ginning (43). The highest numbers of workforce are concentrated in electronics/electrical appliances, foodstuffs and construction industries.
The choice of Manisa as production base in the eighties by the Turkish consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
and white goods giant Vestel was an important boost for the present-day level of sophistication. Today Manisa's economic activities are far from being confined to a sole company. Manisa registered roughly 200m US dollars in FDI in 2004 and well-known businesses such as Italian white goods company Indesit
Indesit
Indesit Company, an Italian multinational company based in Fabriano, Ancona province, Italy, a leading appliance manufacturer in Europe.- History :...
, German electrical goods company Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
, UK packaging company Rexam
Rexam
Rexam PLC is a global consumer packaging company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest manufacturer of beverage cans in the world and a leading producer of plastic packaging...
and Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
of the UK have invested in Manisa.
In 2004/2005 Manisa was chosen among 200 contestants as the Most Cost-Effective European city by the FDi magazine
FDi magazine
fDi Magazine is an English-language bi-monthly news and foreign direct investment publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd and edited in London. The A4 glossy pages reach a circulation of 14, 768 ABC “senior decision-makers involved in overseas investment” across the world...
's yearly round of votes to determine European Cities and Regions of the Future, its extremely low office and industrial rents and competitive labor costs having been particularly noted. Again for 2006/2007, Manisa was named among 89 European cities as the winner for the category for the Best Economic Potential in Europe, as runner-up for the categories Southern-Europe's City of the Future (winner for Turkey) and the Most Cost-Effective European city.
The city also has a football team, Manisaspor, which plays in the Turkish Premier Super League under the home colors of red and white and away colors of black and white. Manisaspor's home ground is the Manisa 19 Mayis Stadi
Manisa 19 Mayis Stadi
Manisa 19 Mayis Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Manisa, Turkey. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Turkcell Super League team Manisaspor.The stadium currently holds 20,000 people....
.
Early period
- TantalusTantalusTantalus was the ruler of an ancient western Anatolian city called either after his name, as "Tantalís", "the city of Tantalus", or as "Sipylus", in reference to Mount Sipylus, at the foot of which his city was located and whose ruins were reported to be still visible in the beginning of the...
- Founder of the city of Tantalis and father of PelopsPelopsIn Greek mythology, Pelops , was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. He was the founder of the House of Atreus through his son of that name....
and NiobeNiobeNiobe was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, and she was the sister of Pelops and Broteas, all of whom figure in Greek mythology.... - Mermnad dynasty - House of LydiaLydiaLydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
which ruled an important part of Anatolia in the 7th and 6th centuries BC
Greco-Roman period
- Pausanias (geographer)Pausanias (geographer)Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
(possibly) - Greek traveller, geographer, and writer of the 2nd century AD
Saruhan-Ottoman period
- Saruhan dynasty - Turkish BeyBeyBey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
lik dynasty which ruled Manisa region in the 14th century - Tekeli Lala Mehmed Pasha - Ottoman grand vizier of the 16th century
- Gelenbevi Ismail EfendiGelenbevi Ismail EfendiIsmail Gelenbevi was an Ottoman mathematician and professor at the Naval College in Istanbul, Turkey.Born in 1730 in the town of Gelenbe near Manisa, at that time in the Province of Aydin in Western Turkey, he is known under the name "Gelenbevi" , which means "de Gelenbe" in French, and "von...
- Ottoman mathematician and academic - Karaosmanoğlu family - Dynasty of regional lords (ayanDerebeyA derebey was a feudal lord in Anatolia in the 18th century, with considerable independence from the central government of the Ottoman Empire....
) who governed with great autonomy between mid-18th and mid-19th century from their bases in Akhisar, Manisa and İzmir and also produced notable members later such as the author Yakup Kadri KaraosmanoğluYakup Kadri KaraosmanogluYakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu was a Turkish novelist, journalist, diplomat, and senator.-Early life:... - Mehmed Eşref (Şair Eşref) - 19th century satiristSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
poet of national renown - Musa Eskenazi / Morris Şinasi / Morris Cshinasi - Founder of the company Philip Morris InternationalPhilip Morris InternationalPhilip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion.Until...
, as well as of a hospital for children in Manisa
Turkish Republic
- Ahmet BilekAhmet BilekAhmet Bilek , was a Turkish Olympic champion sports wrestler in the flyweight class and a trainer...
- Olympic goldOlympic GoldOlympic Gold is the official video game of the XXV Olympic Summer Games, hosted by Barcelona, Spain in 1992. It was released for the Sega consoles, Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System, and Sega's handheld, Game Gear.Developed internally by U.S...
medalist in wrestling - Asuman DabakAsuman Dabak-Selected filmography:-External links:...
- Film and theater actress - Caner ErkinCaner ErkinCaner Erkin is a Turkish footballer currently playing at Fenerbahçe. He previously played at Russian side CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahçe's rival Galatasaray. He plays as a left winger.-Manisaspor:...
- Football player - Demet EvgarDemet EvgarDemet Evgar is a Turkish actress with an increasing fame in Turkey through roles in feature films and TV series but who also still pursues an active career as an actress in theatre where she had made her débuts...
- Film and theater actress - Hilmi ÖzkökHilmi ÖzkökGeneral Hilmi Özkök was the 24th Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces. He took up that post on August 28, 2002 and served until August 30, 2006 when he retired and was succeeded by General Yaşar Büyükanıt.Özkök has expressed support for Turkey's alignment with the European Union,...
- General and former Chief of the General Staff of Turkey - İlhan BerkIlhan Berkİlhan Berk was a leading contemporary Turkish poet. He was a dominant figure in the postmodern current in Turkish poetry and was very influential among Turkish literary circles.-Biography:Berk was born in Manisa, Turkey in 1918 and received a teacher's training in Balıkesir...
- Poet - Kenan EvrenKenan EvrenAhmet Kenan Evren was the seventh President of Turkey; a post he assumed by leading the 1980 military coup. He was also the last president to be born in the Ottoman Empire.- Biography :...
- General, military coup leader and 7th President of TurkeyPresident of TurkeyThe President of Turkey is the head of state of the Republic of Turkey. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office but has some important functions... - Ruhi SarıalpRuhi SarialpRuhi Sarıalp was a Turkish track and field athlete, who competed mainly in the triple jump....
- Olympic bronze medalBronze medalA bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
ist in triple jumpTriple jumpThe triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a... - Sinan ErdemSinan ErdemSinan Erdem was a former Turkish volleyball player and long-standing head of the National Olympic Committee of Turkey.-Biography:He was born on May 9, 1927 in Manisa, Turkey. After finishing the high school in Galatasaray High School, he was educated in Law at Istanbul University.Sinan started to...
- former volleyball player and head of Turkish National OlympicPhnom Pehn National Olympic StadiumThe Olympic Stadium or National Sports Complex is a multi-purpose stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It has a capacity of 50,000 seats, but can expand up to 80,000.-History:...
Committee - Yusuf AtılganYusuf AtilganYusuf Atılgan was a Turkish novelist and dramatist, who is best known for his novels Aylak Adam and Anayurt Oteli . He is one of the pioneers of the modern Turkish novel.Atılgan is considered as one of the pioneers of the modern Turkish novel...
- Novelist and dramatist - Mehmet Kirdar - Author, poet and politician
See also
- Mount SipylusMount SipylusMount Spil , the ancient Mount Sipylus , is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean Region....
(Mount Spil) - Celal Bayar UniversityCelal Bayar UniversityCelal Bayar University or ' is a state university located in Manisa, Turkey. It is one of the third largest universities in Aegean Region with close to 25,000 student body and 1,156 faculty members.- History :...
- Vestel ManisasporVestel ManisasporManisaspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965. The club colours are red, white, and black...
- Sultana (grape)Sultana (grape)The sultana is a type of white, seedless grape assumed to originate from the Turkish, Greek, or Iranian area...
International relations
Manisa is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
Footnotes
