Sarayköy
Encyclopedia
Sarayköy is a town and district of Denizli Province
in Turkey
, 20 km west of the city of Denizli
, on a plain between mountains and watered by Büyük Menderes River. The area is around 470 km², and the population (2010) is 29,854 of which 18,510 live in the town of Sarayköy, and the rest in surrounding villages.
Sarayköy is at a high altitude inland from the Mediterranean and thus has hot dry summers and very cold winters. The mountain sides are mostly bare but there are ongoing forestry projects.
lord that settled his tribe here in the 14th century.
Sarayköy was an important point of resistance to the Greek army in the Turkish War of Independence
. Volunteers assembled here were able to defend the bridge across the River Menderes and thus prevent the Greeks from occupying the city of Denizli. There is a statue in the town of a fighter in local efe
costume to commemorate this struggle.
5,000 homes in the town are heated with water run off from the geothermal power station in the village of Kızıldere, which was the first plant of its kind in Turkey. There are also plants near the power station making dry ice and bottling carbon dioxide. The plain is irrigated and mostly used for growing cotton and there is a large cotton storage and processing plant in the town. Other crops include figs, olives and apricots. Other activities include limestone quarrying and coal mining.
Sarayköy is also a market town for the surrounding countryside.
Denizli Province
Denizli Province is a province of Turkey in Western Anatolia, on high ground above the Aegean coast. Neighbouring provinces are Uşak to the north, Burdur, Isparta, Afyon to the east, Aydın, Manisa to the west and Muğla to the south. It is located between the coordinates 28° 30’ and 29° 30’ E and...
in 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...
, 20 km west of the city of Denizli
Denizli
Denizli is a growing industrial city in the Southwestern part of Turkey and the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about a hundred meters. Denizli is located in southwestern Turkey, in the country's Aegean Region.The city...
, on a plain between mountains and watered by Büyük Menderes River. The area is around 470 km², and the population (2010) is 29,854 of which 18,510 live in the town of Sarayköy, and the rest in surrounding villages.
Sarayköy is at a high altitude inland from the Mediterranean and thus has hot dry summers and very cold winters. The mountain sides are mostly bare but there are ongoing forestry projects.
History
The town was previously a village named Sarıbey after the TurkmenTurkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
lord that settled his tribe here in the 14th century.
Sarayköy was an important point of resistance to the Greek army in 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...
. Volunteers assembled here were able to defend the bridge across the River Menderes and thus prevent the Greeks from occupying the city of Denizli. There is a statue in the town of a fighter in local efe
Efe
The Efe were the leaders of Turkish irregular soldiers and guerillas from the Aegean Region of Anatolia, called the Zeibeks and Kızan. There are many theories about the origins of the word Efe....
costume to commemorate this struggle.
Sarayköy today
The major activity of the area is textile production (following in the footsteps of nearby Babadağ), mainly weaving but some printing and sewing of bedding and other home textiles.5,000 homes in the town are heated with water run off from the geothermal power station in the village of Kızıldere, which was the first plant of its kind in Turkey. There are also plants near the power station making dry ice and bottling carbon dioxide. The plain is irrigated and mostly used for growing cotton and there is a large cotton storage and processing plant in the town. Other crops include figs, olives and apricots. Other activities include limestone quarrying and coal mining.
Sarayköy is also a market town for the surrounding countryside.
Places of interest
- The Ahmetli Bridge over the Büyük Menderes river, 15 km from Sarayköy township, dates back to the Roman era. The middle section of the bridge was blown up as a defensive measure during the Greco-Turkish WarGreco-Turkish War (1919-1922)The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...
but was reconstructed with reinforced concrete later on.
Notable natives
- Sezen AksuSezen AksuSezen Aksu is a Turkish pop music singer, song-writer and producer who sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and Minik Serçe ....
, Turkey's leading modern singer and songwriter was born in Sarayköy. - Tekin Akmansoy, theatre and television actor.
- Nevzat Atlığ, choir conductor.