[edit]
Isparta is known as the city of roses
Historical affiliations
Hittites c. 1600–1200 BC
Phrygia c. 800–695 BC
Achaemenid Empire c. 547–333 BC
Macedonian Empire 333–323 BC
Kingdom of Pergamon c. 281–133 BC
Roman Empire 133 BC–395 AD
Byzantine Empire 395–1071
Seljuk Empire 1071–1077
Sultanate of Rum 1077–1243
Ilkhanate 1243–1335
Hamidids c. 1301–1391
Ottoman Empire 1391–1922
Turkey 1923–present
Men, the local god. Statue in Hellenistic style, Roman period, +/- 2nd century AD in Isparta Museum
Roman era[edit]
Isparta is a Turkish spelling of Greek Sparta, by prothesis declustering.
Isparta was said to correspond to the ancient city of Baris, which is a namesake and was part of the Roman province of Pisidia. A later theory has it instead as the Eastern Roman fortress Saporda; in Muslim sources it appears as Sabarta. GE Bean characterized the situation thus: "These perpetually shifting conceptions leave the reader quite bewildered." Modern scholars locate Baris near Kılıç, in Keçiborlu district, Isparta province.
Atatürk in Isparta March 6, 1930.
Isparta View taken in the city - Laborde Léon Emmanuel Simon Joseph - 1838.
At an early stage it became a Christian bishopric, a suffragan of the Metropolitan see of Antioch of Pisidia, the capital of the province. The names of two of its bishops are known with certainty: Heraclius participated in the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and Leo in the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In addition, Paulus was at the Council of Constantinople (869) and Stephanus was at the Council of Constantinople (879), but one or both of these may have been of the Baris in the Roman province of Hellespontus. Like most sees in Asia Minor, it faded away.
1071: Conquered by the Seljuk Turks.
Late 13th century: Becomes part of the Hamidids.
1381: Isparta is sold to the Ottoman sultan Murad I by the Hamidid Emir.
Late 19th century: Muslim refugees from the Balkans settle around Isparta. The Bulgarian refugees brought the knowledge of kazanlik rosewater production with them, leading to Isparta's nickname: city of roses.
1914: According to the 1914 Ottoman population statistics, the district of Isparta had a total population of 54.465, consisting of 46.698 Muslims, 6.648 Greeks and 1.119 Armenians.
1923: The Greek inhabitants of the area were forced to move to Greece under the Greco-Turkish population exchange.
Notable flight crashes[edit]
On 19 September 1976, Turkish Airlines Flight 452, a Boeing 727 aircraft, crashed on a hill in Isparta, also known Mount Karatepe, killing all 154 passengers and crew.
On 30 November 2007, Atlasjet Flight 4203 crashed on approach to Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport, killing all 57 passengers and crew.
