Aksaray

History

First mentioned as Šinaḫuttum-Šinuhtu in ancient Hittite texts, and later Nenaşşa, (also spelled as Nenessa and Nenossós in Ancient Greek texts) and Kurşaura. The Aksaray Stela was written in Luwian Hieroglyphs and was dedicated by king Kiyakiyas who described his prosperity in his reign and the benevolence of the weather god Tarhunzas. Kiyakiyas may be identical with king Kiyakki of Šinuḫtu, who ruled prior to 718 BC. At that time Šinuḫtu was taken, the king was seized and deported by the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II. The Hittite name Kurşaura underwent a sound change to Garsaura. The /k/ became voiced and turned into a /g/ consonant, while the /u/ became /a/. Strabon mentions Garsaura in his work (V/4 and VI/1). The town of Garsaura was renamed Archelaïs () by Archelaus of Cappadocia, the last Cappadocian king. In Roman times, the town was known as Colonia and became a bishropric. Of its bishops, Euphrasius was at the First Council of Nicaea in 325; Bosporus (who is mentioned in the correspondence of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus) at the First Council of Constantinople in 381; Daniel at the Council of Ephesus in 431; Aristomachus (who was also a signatory of the letter of the bishops of the Roman province of Cappadocia Tertia, to which Colonia belonged, to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian about the killing of Proterius of Alexandria in 458) at the Council of Chalcedon in 451; Alexander at a council in Constantinople called by Patriarch Menas of Constantinople in 536; and Conon at the Trullan Council of 692. No longer a residential bishopric, Colonia in Cappadocia is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. Colonia is also a titular Turkish metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. During Byzantine times, the town…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  90
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  70
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  57
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  50
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  40
• Pale Bugloss

  Echium italicum L. · Magnoliopsida
  39
• gray wolf

  Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  32
• Crested Lark

  Galerida cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  31