Artvin

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This article is about the city of Artvin. See Artvin Province for more information about the surrounding area.
Artvin
Municipality
Artvin Central Mosque and Park
Artvin Central Mosque and Park
Artvin is located in Turkey
Artvin
Artvin
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Turkey
Province Artvin
Government
 • Mayor Mehmet Kocatepe (AKP)
Area[1]
 • District 1,084.74 km2 (418.82 sq mi)
Elevation 345 m (1,132 ft)
Population (2012)[2]
 • Urban 25,771
 • District 33,692
 • District density 31/km2 (80/sq mi)
Post code 0800
Climate Cfb
Website www.artvin.bel.tr

Artvin (Georgian: ართვინი, Artvini) is a city in northeastern Turkey about 30 km inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam. It is home of Artvin Çoruh University.

History

Artvin city from Mamacimla district, 1905-1912
Hopa mines, 1900's

The area has a rich history but has not been studied extensively by archaeologists in recent decades. Artifacts dating back to the Bronze Age and even earlier have been found. The Hurrians settled in the Artvin area in 2000 BC and were succeeded by the Urartu civilisation, based in Lake Van. Later, the area was part of the kingdom of Colchis but was always vulnerable to invasions, first the Scythians from across the Caucasus, then the Muslim armies led by Habib, son of Caliph Uthman who controlled the area from 853 AD to 1023 when it was conquered by the Byzantines from the Sac Emirate linked to the Abbasids.

An Armenian woman in national costume poses on a hillside near Artvin (in present-day Turkey), circa 1910.

The Seljuk Turks of Alp Arslan conquered the area in 1064 AD; but after his death, it was briefly recaptured by the king of Georgia with the help of the Byzantines. But in 1081 Turkish forces led by Saltukoğlu Beylik managed to take it back with the aid of Melikşah. With the collapse of the Seljuks, the Artvin area came under the control of the Ildeniz tribe of the Anatolian Turkish beyliks.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Various Turkish clans fought for control over the area and this continued until the Safavids ultimately took advantage of this fighting and conquered the area in 1502.

The Ottoman Empire under Mehmet II defeated the Empire of Trebizond to bring the eastern Black Sea coast and the mountainous hinterland under their control. Subsequent expeditions into the mountains by Selim I and Mehmed Han Yusufeli gave them control of a number of castles and thus the whole district. Kara Ahmet Pasha, the vizer of Suleiman I formed the first Livane Sanjak with the name Pert-Eğekte. On 13 July 1551, with İskender Pasha's Ardanuç castle, the Ottoman control of Artvin was secure. Ahmed III's vizer Hasan Pasha founded the city of Batum in the newly acquired lands of Ajaria and it became the hub of the area.

This lasted 250 years until the area was ceded to the Russians by the Ottoman Empire following the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829), and recovered and again ceded at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Artvin was in a war zone and continuously changing control between Russia and Turkey with the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk, Moscow and Kars. All this fighting and uncertainty between Russia and Turkey in the late 19th century caused the people of Artvin to suffer terribly, with much of the population moving westwards away from the Russian-controlled zones.

In 1850, the Catholic Church established the eparchy of Artvin with jurisdiction over Catholic Armenians in the extreme northeast of Turkey and in the Caucasus. The first bishop of the see died in the following year. Another eparch was appointed in 1859. He resigned in 1878, when the whole province of Artvin came under the rule of Russia, which did not allow his successor to take possession of the see.[11][12][13][14] In the 20th century, Catholic Armenians throughout Russia were entrusted to an apostolic administrator resident in Tbilisi, but the Soviet authorities imprisoned him, and he died some time before 1937.[15] The Holy See continued to list the eparchy of Artvin as a vacant residential see until 1971,[16] but in 1972, accepting that it was no longer such, it began to list Artvin as a titular see.[17]

The Russians withdrew from Artvin following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917; but when the First World War ended with the Ottomans on the losing side, British troops moved into the area in 1918, followed by the newly independent Georgians. There were moves to incorporate Artvin into Georgia but a referendum was called in 1920, and, knowing that the vast majority of the population were Turks, the Georgians withdrew their claim on Artvin in 1921 by the Treaty of Kars.[18]

Demographics

In the census of 1897, the town of Artvin was mainly populated by Armenians but the district in which it lay was largely Turkish. Outside of the town, the population in the district numbered 49,049 people, of whom 39,997 (82%) were Turks and 3,173 (6%) Armenian.[19]

Year Total Ethnic groups
1886[20] 6,442 Armenians 4,922 (76.4%), Turks 1,508 (23.88%)
1897[21] 7,091 Armenians 4,646 (65.5%), Turks 1,491 (21%)
1985[22] 18,720
1990[22] 20,306
2000[22] 23,157
2010[22] 24,354

Climate

Artvin has an oceanic climate (Cfb) under the Köppen classification and a warm summer oceanic climate (Dob) under Trewartha classification. The climate is wet all year round, and the summers are pleasantly cool, being strongly affected by the nearby Black Sea and its slight elevation.

Climate data for Artvin (1950 - 2014)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 18.9
(66)
21.2
(70.2)
28.4
(83.1)
34.4
(93.9)
36.4
(97.5)
39.0
(102.2)
42.0
(107.6)
43.0
(109.4)
39.5
(103.1)
33.9
(93)
27.9
(82.2)
20.9
(69.6)
43
(109.4)
Average high °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2)
8.2
(46.8)
12.3
(54.1)
17.9
(64.2)
21.8
(71.2)
24.1
(75.4)
25.7
(78.3)
26.2
(79.2)
23.8
(74.8)
19.6
(67.3)
13.3
(55.9)
7.8
(46)
17.24
(63.03)
Daily mean °C (°F) 2.8
(37)
3.9
(39)
7.0
(44.6)
12.0
(53.6)
15.9
(60.6)
18.7
(65.7)
20.8
(69.4)
21.0
(69.8)
18.1
(64.6)
14.0
(57.2)
9.0
(48.2)
4.5
(40.1)
12.31
(54.15)
Average low °C (°F) −0.3
(31.5)
0.3
(32.5)
2.8
(37)
7.2
(45)
11.1
(52)
14.2
(57.6)
16.8
(62.2)
17.0
(62.6)
14.0
(57.2)
10.2
(50.4)
5.6
(42.1)
1.6
(34.9)
8.37
(47.08)
Record low °C (°F) −16.1
(3)
−11.9
(10.6)
−9.8
(14.4)
−7.1
(19.2)
−0.6
(30.9)
3.7
(38.7)
9.5
(49.1)
9.5
(49.1)
4.2
(39.6)
−1.6
(29.1)
−8.2
(17.2)
−10.8
(12.6)
−16.1
(3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 87.4
(3.441)
73.7
(2.902)
61.6
(2.425)
54.0
(2.126)
52.2
(2.055)
48.7
(1.917)
31.9
(1.256)
29.4
(1.157)
35.9
(1.413)
60.7
(2.39)
76.4
(3.008)
87.8
(3.457)
699.7
(27.547)
Average precipitation days 13.0 12.7 13.2 12.9 14.0 12.5 8.3 8.0 8.5 11.0 11.2 11.7 137
Mean daily sunshine hours 2.3 3.2 4.2 5.2 6.3 7.1 6.5 6.6 6.3 4.5 3.1 2.1 4.78
Source: Turkish State Meteorological Service[23]

Places of interest

  • Artvin or Livana (Livane) castle, built in 937

There are a number of Ottoman Empire houses and public buildings including:

  • Salih Bey mosque,[24] built in 1792
  • Çarsi mosque, built in the 18th century[24]
  • Balcioglu mosque, built in the 18th century[24]
  • The fountain of Çelebi Efendi, built in 1783.

The surrounding countryside offers many places for climbing, trekking and rafting.

Events

Artvin is known for the Caucasus (Kafkas in Turkish) Culture and Arts Festival, a celebration that takes place at the Kafkasör plateau every year.[25] The most famous event is the Bull wrestling which draws many local and international visitors.[26]

Sister cities

Notes and references

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  3. The Turks: Middle ages, Hasan Celāl Güzel, Cem Oğuz, Osman Karatay, 2002
  4. Les Origines de l'Empire ottoman, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü, Gary Leiser, 1992, page 82
  5. European and Islamic trade in the early Ottoman state: the merchants of Genoa and Turkey, Kate Fleet, 1999, page 49
  6. Turkey, Verity Campbell, 2007, page 35
  7. Turkey, James Bainbridge, 2009, page 33
  8. Eastern Turkey: The Bradt Travel Guide, Diana Darke, 2011, page 77
  9. The Turks: Early ages, Hasan Celāl Güzel, Cem Oğuz, Osman Karatay, 2002
  10. The sons of Bayezid: empire building and representation in the Ottoman civil war of 1402-1413, Dimitris J. Kastritsis, 2007, page 2
  11. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 456
  12. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Supplement, Leipzig 1931, p. 93
  13. Joseph Lins, "Artvin" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1907)
  14. Christopher Lawrence Zugger, The Forgotten (Syracuse University Press 2001 ISBN 978-0-81560679-6), p. 60
  15. Chronology of Catholic Dioceses:Notes on the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Artvin
  16. Annuario Pontificio 1971 (Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana0, p. 41
  17. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 840
  18. Artvin Valiliği Resmi Web Sayfası <<! HOŞGELDİNİZ !>>
  19. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказского края, извлечённых из посемейных списков 1886 года, г. Тифлис, 1893. Available online here
  21. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. Kafkasör Bull Wrestling Festival
  26. Bullwrestling in Artvin, Turkey

See also

External links