Kayseri

History Kayseri has been a trade center since ancient times, and it has become a region where important trade routes pass, so that the mixture of cultures is seen intensely. It is one of the interesting and important cities of Turkey, rich with its historical artifacts, handicrafts and cuisine, where carpet and rug weaving has an important place. It is a big city established on the northern skirts of Mount Erciyes (3917m.), which is the highest mountain of the region where the snow on its summit never melts. The fact that it is located at a road junction connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean and between the east and the west shows that it has been an important trade point since the Ancient Bronze Age. The Assyrian merchants, on the other hand, came to Kültepe by caravans consisting of 200-250 donkeys to meet the tin needs of the beys in Anatolia for bronze making, over the Kahramanmaraş Elbistan plain or the Ergani mine pass and the Taurus Mountains, crossing the Euphrates river near Malatya and proceeding along the Tohma Stream. They established market places in different points of Anatolia and named these markets as Karum, which means port. The center of these established markets is Kaniş (kultepe) Karum. The Assyrians brought with them the cuneiform they learned from the Sumerians. Thousands of clay tablets were found during the excavations in Kültepe. Daily life and commercial activities engraved on these tablets, seals and tablets gave valuable information about the history of Cappadocia and Mesopotamia. Business letters and debentures make up the bulk of the tablets. Court records, various records and lists are common documents. To a lesser extent, there are documents related to family law such as marriage-divorce, adoption and inheritance, and bonds of sale of slaves, houses and fields. Kaniş Karum was later burned down as a result of clashes between local principalities. Just at this time, the Hittite Kingdom came to the stage of history powerfully. After learning cuneiform from the Assyrians, they recorded very valuable information that will illuminate the history of Cappadocia. Hittite kings talked about the successes and failures of the wars they won with the annals (mothers) they kept and this provided important information in terms of history. Kashgars, the troublemakers of the Hittites, are the reason for the collapse of the empire. With the collapse of the Hittite empire, the remaining groups formed the Late Hittite state. The most important of these is the Tabal Kingdom. In this period, Kayseri gained importance again. The city later came under the rule of the Mets, who put an end to the Assyrians, and then the Persians. It became the center of the Cappadocia Satrap, which was established during the Persian period, and was called Mazaka. In this period, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, who entered the stage of History quickly, defeated the Persians, advanced to the Cappadocia region, captured the part to the south of the Red River, but Ariarathes, one of the Persian nobles, resisted this and established the Cappadocia kingdom. Alexander the Great met strong resistance here. In this period, Kayseri took the name Eusebeia. It was occupied by the Romans in 66 BC. It is stated that Julius Caesar stayed in Kayseri for a while in 47 BC. During the reign of the last king, Archelaus, its name was changed to Caesarea, meaning the city of Caesar or Caesar. After 395, it came under the rule of the Eastern Roman, that is, Byzantium. During the Arab invasions that began in the 7th century, it changed hands between the Byzantines and the Arabs. With the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, it came under the rule of the Seljuks. Afterwards, it came under the rule of Crusaders, Armenians, Danishmends, Anatolian Seljuks, Ilkhanids, Eretna Principality, Ottomans, Karamanids and Dulkadirogullari, respectively. In 1515, it was definitely connected to the Ottoman Empire. There are not many Ottoman artifacts in the city. Seljuk works are dominant. The first example of a madrasah with an open courtyard, the first hospital structure and the first social complex of the Anatolian Seljuks are located here.