Isparta

Sister cities

• Hamadan
• Comrat
• Genk

History

*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. 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. 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.