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