Ereğli, Konya

Ereğli, Konya
Ereğli is a municipality and district of Konya Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,214 km2, and its population is 150,978 (2022). Its elevation is .
History
The ancient town of Heraclea Cybistra (Ηράκλεια Κυβίστρα in Ancient Greek) was located here, and gave its name (Heracles) to the modern town. The town had some importance in Hellenistic times owing to its position near the point where the road to the Gülek Pass (Cilician Gates) enters the hills. It lay in the way of armies and was more than once sacked by the Arab invaders of Asia Minor (AD 805 and 832). During the Crusade of 1101 it was the scene of a failed battle of 15,000 men led by William II, Count of Nevers against the Seljuks, which left the Crusaders weak en route to Antioch. It became Turkish (Seljuk) in the 11th century.
Ereğli is also known for being the first capital of the Karaman Beylik founded by Nur Sufi Bey. The Karaman state was renowned for being a consistent nuisance to Ottoman dominance in Anatolia, being one of the few Anatolian beyliks to retain sovereignty well past Mehmed the Conqueror's conquest of Constantinople. It was also the first political entity and beylik in Anatolia to proclaim Turkish as an official language alongside Arabic and Persian. In 1553, upon return from a campaign in Persia, Suleiman the Magnificent had his son, Şehzade Mustafa, killed in the Ereğli valley where the Ottoman Army was stationed. Modern Ereğli had grown from a large village to a town since the railway reached it from Konya and Karaman in 1904; and it has now hotels and thriving businesses.
Archaeology
Three hours’ ride south is the famous "Hittite" rock relief of a lynx, representing a king (probably of neighbouring Tyana) adoring a god. This was the first "Hittite" monument discovered in modern times (early 18th century, by the Swede Otter, an emissary of Louis XIV).
Ereğli may be the location of the Hittite town of Hupisna (Ḫupišna), where the goddess Ḫuwaššanna was worshipped. She was linked with Gazbaba, a Mesopotamian love goddess also connected with Inanna.
In the early Iron Age, Hupisna also was a neo-Hittite polity in the land of Tabal. Two kings of Hupisna are known from the Assyrian sources: Puḫamme (c. 837 BC) and Urimme (c. 738 BC).
Composition
There are 87 neighbourhoods in Ereğli District:
500 Evler
Acıkuyu
Acıpınar
Adabağ
Akhüyük
Alhan
Alpaslan
Aşağıgöndelen
Aşıklar
Atakent
Aydınlar
Aziziye
Bahçeli
Barbaros
Batıalagözü
Belceağaç
Belkaya
Beyköy
Beyören
Boyacıali
Bulgurluk
Burhaniye
Büyükdede
Cahı
Çakmak
Camikebir
Çayhan
Çiller
Çimencik
Cinler
Çömlekçi
Dalmaz
Doğualagözlü
Eti
Fatih
Gaybi
Gökçeyazı
Göktöme
Gülbahçe
Hacımemiş
Hacımustafa
Hacımutahir
Hamidiye
Hıdırlı
Hortu
Kamışlıkuyu
Karaburun
Kargacı
Kazancı
Kızılgedik
Kuskuncuk
Kutören
Kuzukuyu
Mehmet Akif
Mellicek
Mimar Sinan
Namık Kemal
Orhangazi
Orhaniye
Özgürler
Pınarözü
Pirömer
Sarıca
Sarıtopallı
Selçuklu
Servili
Şinasi
Sümer
Talatpaşa
Taşağıl
Taşbudak
Tatlıkuyu
Toros
Türbe
Türkmen
Üçgöz
Ulumeşe
Yazlık
Yellice
Yenibağlar
Yeniköy
Yıldırımbeyazıt
Yıldızlı
Yukarıgöndelen
Yunuslu
Zengen
Ziya Gökalp
Transportation
Ereğli Gar is the railway station of the town. Once served by several train lines that have destinations to Istanbul, İzmir and Konya, the station is currently served by Mainline / Toros Ekspresi only, which connects Ereğli to Adana and Karaman.
Notable residents
Nimet Çubukçu, current Minister of Education of Turkey.
Ali Talip Özdemir, former head of the Motherland Party (ANAP)
Şehzade Mustafa, heir to the Ottoman throne who was killed in the Ereğli valley
Volkan Ş. Ediger (born 1953, is a scientist, writer and bureaucrat
International relations
Ereğli is twinned with:
Hydra, Greece (since 1996)
See also
Kwangjin Park, a park in Ereğli.
References
External links
District governor's official website
District Municipality's official website
Populated places in Konya Province
Districts of Konya Province
Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey