Hometown

Sivas

History

Written sources describe it as an important settlement in the Hittite period, at the beginning of the second millennium BC. It later passed through Phrygian, Lydian, Assyrian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Danishmend, Ilkhanid, Eretna, and Ottoman rule.

At the Sivas Congress, held on 4 September 1919 under Atatürk’s presidency, decisions were taken that laid the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, and Sivas gained a central place in Turkish history.

Geography

The province begins on the high plateaus of Central Anatolia and rises toward the east, ending in steep mountains to the north, east, and southeast. Average elevation is above 1,000 meters. The Köse Mountains, an extension of the North Anatolian ranges, the Tecer and İncebel Mountains from the northern Taurus, the Akdağlar, and Yama Mountain lie here, along with the Uzunyayla and Meraküm plateaus and the valleys of the Kızılırmak, Kelkit, and Çaltı. The main rivers are the Kızılırmak, Kelkit, Tozanlı, Çaltı, and Tohma.

Most of Sivas has a continental Central Anatolian climate, hot and dry in summer, cold and snowy in winter, with Black Sea influence in the north and the high Eastern Anatolian climate in the east.

Economy

Sivas has substantial potential for economic and social development through its underground and surface resources, social and cultural life, urban growth, education, agricultural output, and transport.

In the 2003 socio-economic development ranking, Sivas was 53rd of 81 provinces, in the fourth development group. In 2001 industry had the largest share of provincial gross product, at 22.4 percent, followed by transport and communications, agriculture, and trade. Income per person was 1,399 dollars, about 65 percent of the national level. Of the working population, 66.5 percent were in agriculture, 24.1 percent in services, 5.4 percent in industry, and 4 percent in construction.

Culture and tourism

Sivas carries traces of many civilizations. The province has 139 protected sites: 128 archaeological, 8 cultural and historic, and 3 natural. Kuşaklı (Sarissa), near Altınyayla, is an important Hittite city.

Seljuk monuments include the Divriği Great Mosque, the Şifaiye Madrasa, Gök Medrese, the Çifte Minareli Madrasa, and the Buruciye Madrasa. Ottoman works include Kale Mosque, Behram Paşa Han, and Kurşunlu Hamamı. The Atatürk Congress and Ethnography Museum holds archaeological and ethnographic objects, coins, tablets, seals, and manuscripts. Culture and tourism services were assessed in the Sivas 2023 Strategic Provincial Development Plan.

Divriği

History

The district’s history reaches back to the Hittites. In the Byzantine period the city was called Tephrike. In the thirteenth century Ibn Bibi’s Seljukname and some inscriptions call it Divrik. In Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname the name is already Divriği.

Divriği came under Turkish rule after the Battle of Manzikert. When the Turkish emirs divided eastern Anatolia, Erzincan and its region fell to Emir Mengücek, and a branch of that dynasty ruled in Divriği until the mid-thirteenth century, when the Seljuks took the city. After the Anatolian Turkish union broke up, Divriği remained for a time under Mamluk rule. Bayezid I took it in 1398. Timur invaded in 1401. It joined the Ottoman realm for good after Selim I’s victory at Marj Dabiq in 1516, and became a sancak center of the Sivas eyalet.

Geography

Divriği stands near the valley of the Çaltı, a tributary of the Euphrates. Erzincan lies to the east, Kangal to the west, Zara and İmranlı to the north, and Malatya to the south. Its area is 2,935 km² and its elevation is 1,250 meters. The town has 17,530 people, and 32,710 with the villages.

The main mountains are Çengelli (2,650 m), Deli Dağ (2,150 m), Eferdi, Göldağ, and Akdağ to the north; Yama, Demirli, and Geyikli to the south; Sarıçiçek to the southeast; Iğınbat to the east; and Dumluca to the west. The main river is the Çaltı. Winters are snowy and cold, summers hot and dry. Some mountains have sparse oak, juniper, and pine.

Economy

Besides farming and livestock, the main public enterprise is the Divriği Mines. Fruit and vegetables are widely grown, especially walnuts and apricots. The mountains support cattle raising. Poplar growing is also a source of income.

Education and culture

A Seljuk hospital, comparable to a medical faculty of its time, shows the district’s importance then. The literacy rate is about 80–90 percent. Divriği Vocational School, attached to Cumhuriyet University, opened in the 1997–1998 academic year. Secondary schools include Divriği High School, the industrial vocational high school, the imam-hatip high school, and a regional boarding school.

Great Mosque and hospital

Ahmed Şah of the Mengücek dynasty commissioned the Great Mosque in 1228. It covers 1,280 m² and is entered through three stone-carved doors on the north, east, and west. Melike Turan Melek, daughter of Behram Şah, commissioned the hospital in 1228. It covers 768 m². In the eighteenth century it became a madrasa, and it is also called the Şifaiye Madrasa.

Kale Mosque was built in 1180 by Emir İshak, son of Süleyman Şah. Its architect was Hasan, son of Firuz of Maragha. The Sitte Melik tomb dates from 1195, the Kemareddin tomb from 1196, the Kemenkeş tomb from 1240, and the Naip tomb from 1291. Cedit Paşa Mosque was built in 1799.

The baths include Aşağı Hamam, Bekir Çavuş Hamamı, and İmamoğlu Hamamı. Handere Bridge, over the Mirçinge stream, has two pointed arches. Pamuk Han, Burma Han, Mirçinge Han, and Dipli Han belong to the Mengücek period and later.