Aksaray Province

Aksaray Province is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Konya along the west and south, Niğde to the southeast, Nevşehir to the east, and Kırşehir to the north. Its area is 7,659 km2, and its population is 433,055 (2022). The provincial capital is the city of Aksaray.
Aksaray is one of the four provinces in the area of Cappadocia, along with Nevşehir, Niğde and Kayseri. Also the volcano Mount Hasan stands between Aksaray and Niğde. Summers are hot and dry on the plain, but the area is green and covered in flowers in springtime, when water streams off the mountainside. The , Tuz Gölü, lies within the boundaries of Aksaray, a large area of swamp with a maximum depth of .
Districts
Aksaray province is divided into 8 districts (capital district in bold):
Ağaçören
Aksaray
Eskil
Gülağaç
Güzelyurt
Ortaköy
Sarıyahşi
Sultanhanı
Etymology
In antiquity the area was named Archelais Garsaura, which was mutated to Taksara during the Seljuk Turkish era, and then to Aksaray. Aksaray means "White Palace" in Turkish.
Aksaray Castle
The Aksaray Castle was a four-cornered, stone-built, solidly built castle on a large area, on the edge of the Melendiz river. It was built in the middle of the city. The bastion and its towers were not very high. With all their bastions, teeth and bodies, their crenellated holes and their calculated towers always faced each other. During the siege, the strong warriors of each tower guarded the towers with rifles. There were five gates on the side of the fortresses. Küçükkapı faces west. Demirkapı opens to the qibla. Keçikapısı also opens towards the qibla. Ereğlikapısı opens to the south and Konyakapısı opens to the west. The guards of these gates are the tax collectors. A warehouse was built in the castle to store wheat during the rebels' time. It has no arsenal. There are big balls thrown during Ramadan and other festivals.
Population
History
The plains of central Anatolia have been settled for 8,000 years, and the area around Aksaray bears monuments to a string of civilisations that have settled on the plain in that time. The mound of Aşıklı Höyük in the town of Kızılkaya indicates a settlement dating back to 5,000BC (and also a skull of a woman who had apparently been trepanned, the earliest known record of brain surgery).
Later the Silk Road came through here so caravanserai and then larger and larger settlements were built to supply and shelter travellers and traders. The city and surroundings of Aksaray thrived in the Roman, Byzantine and the Turkish periods.
Today Aksaray is a rural, agricultural province, its people religious and conservative. Since the 1950s many have moved to Europe as migrant workers. The population of Aksaray has long included a higher proportion of Kurdish people than most central Anatolian provinces. Many of them were resettled here from Tunceli and other eastern cities following the Sheikh Said rebellion in the 1920s.
Places of interest
Aksaray Grand Mosque
Red Minaret Mosque
Aşıklı Höyük - a Neolithic settlement 25 km east of the city of Aksaray.
Sultan Han - a large Seljuk caravanserai in the town of Sultanhani.
Aksaray Museum
Acemhöyük - an early Bronze Age settlement, 18 km north-west of the city of Aksaray.
The ancient city of Nora, in the village of Helvadere near the city of Aksaray.
Ihlara valley - a canyon, 40 km from the city of Aksaray, in the district of Güzelyurt
Saratlı Kırkgöz Underground City
St. Mercurius Underground City
Taşpınar - known for rugs, south of Aksaray
Mount Hasan and Küçük Hasandağı
Mokissos - ruins of an ancient city
Helvadere Göleti
Güzelyurt Dam Pond
Sofular valley - an abandoned village in Gülağaç and Nenezi Dağı
Bekar Sultan Tomb - located near the village of Bekar. The tomb was built in the 12th century during the Anatolian Seljuk period.
Kalebalta - castle ruins.
Ağzıkara Han
Alayhan Caravanserai
Tepesi Delik Han Caravanserai, formerly known as Öresun Han
Lake Nar - a brackish lake separating Aksaray Province from Niğde
Belisirma - a restaurant on the Melendiz River
Sivişli Kilise - The St. Anargirios church, also known as Sivisli Church in Güzelyurt Monastery Valley
St. Ayios Antonios Church - ruins in Çeltek, near Çanlı Kilise
Karagedik Kilise - a ruined church in the village of Belisırma, formerly known as St. Ermolaos Church
Selime Cathedral - a rock-cut cathedral in Güzelyürt, used as a castle during the reign of the Seljuks.
Kilise Camii - Mosque Church, also known as the St. Gregory of Nazianzus Church in Güzelyurt
Kizil Kilise - "Red Church", also known as St. Spyridon Church
Çanlı Kilise - ruins of a medieval Byzantine church and settlement, located southeast of Aksaray.
Yüksek Kilise - the High church, also known as St. Analipsis (St. Panteleimon) Church
Gökçe - St. Mamas Church & St. Michael the Archangel Churches
See also
List of populated places in Aksaray Province
Aksaray Malaklisi
Lake Tuz Natural Gas Storage
Gallery
References
External links
Aksaray municipality's official website
High resolution pictures of the city
Aksaray University student websites
Notes