Where to Visit in Kirsehir
Kirsehir, formerly Mocissus, is a city in Turkey. It is the capital district of the Kirsehir Province. According to the 2000 census, the population of the district is 121,947 of which 105,826 live in the city of Kırşehir. The Mayor of Kırşehir is Selehattin Ekicioğlu.
The history of Kirsehir dates back to the Hittites. During the period of the Hittites, the basin of Kırşehir was known as the country of “Ahiyuva”, meaning “the Land of the Achaeans”, as the Greeks were known to the Hittites. This basin also took the name Cappadocia at the time of the Romans and Byzantines. Kirsehir was once known as Aquae Saravenae. The Seljuks took the city in the 1070’s and bestowed the current name. In Turkish, “Kır Şehri” means “steppe city” or “prairie city“. It became the chief town of a sanjak in the Ottoman vilayet of Angora, which possessed, c. 1912, 8000 inhabitants, most of them Turks. In the 19th century, Kirsehir was attached to the sanjak of Ankara. From 1867 until 1922, Kırşehir was part of Angora vilayet. In 1924, Kırşehir was made capital of the new Kırşehir Province. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visited the city in 1921 and 1931.
Kesikköprü is one of the bridges built by the Seljuk Empire in Central Anatolia. It is on the way of Kırşehir-Konya, about 20 km (12.43 mi) to the south of Kırşehir, and across the River Kızılırmak with its 13 parts. In the inscription of bridge, it is written that the bridge was built by Atabeg İzzü’d-Din Muhammed in 646 of the Hijrah/1248 of the Christian era during the rule of Keykavus, the son of Keyhüsrev. There is also an old Seljuk mosque built during the reign of either Mesud I or Kilij Arslan II. In the countryside is a ruined tomb of a possible dervish during the times of either Seljuks or Ottomans. The ones who came from İzmir and tried to reach Sivas and Erzurum from Tokat passed over Kesikköprü. We have learned that the inscription was sunken into the river in 1953. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it took the name of Kesikköprü due to the fact that caravan roads were invaded by the highwaymen. The three-line instruction destroyed on stone base can hardly be read. The inscription “Ressame bi imaret hazihil el kantara el mübareke (fi eyyam han) devlet es sultan el azam İzzü-d dünya ve ‘d Din Ebul Feth Keykavus bin Keyhüsrev Burhan Emirel mü’münin.” “El Mevla el sahibul azam atabek el muazzam nazım mesalih il alem nasır el enam zübdetil eyyam izzeddin ebul meli Muhammed zahir Ali Selçuk ve emiril mü’minil azzellahu nasrahu ve ala kadrehu fi şuhuri sene sitte ve arbain ve sitte mie hamiden lillah ve musallian ala nebiihi Muhammed ve alihi vesellem teslimen kesiran.” Aşık Pasha Mausoleum is the tomb of the 14-century sufi poet Aşık Pasha who died in 1332. Kirsehir Castle is located on a hill mound, believed to have been built in the 4th century. It covers an area of 10 acres. It is thought to have been created by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. Nothing remains from the castle.
Kirsehir Museums
