BorLand.asia : The Land of Bor (Turkey)




Bor is a town and district of Nigde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, 14 km north of the city of Nigde, on a high plain (altitude 1100 m). Population is 63,020 of which 29,804 live in the town of Bor.

Situated just north of the Taurus Mountains, not very far from the Cilician Gates (Gülek Bog(az?), the mountain pass leading to Cilicia and Syria the area has long been a place of great commercial and military consequence.

Bor Etymology

The Hittites and Assyrians gave the area the name Tuwanuwa. In the times of Cyrus the Younger and Alexander the Great it was named Dana and then by the Romans, Tyana. The remains of these civilizations can be found in the village of Kemerhisar. Bor is a more modern settlement nearby.

Bor History

The plain has been settled since the time of the Hittites, and subsequently controlled by Assyrians, Phrygians, Persians and Ancient Macedonians. The Romans (and from 395 AD onwards Byzantium) built the ancient city of Tyana the most southern-most centre of Cappadocia. During the Byzantine period the town was the eastern Mediterranean region’s most important Christian centre, as indicated also by its former Turkish name of Kilisehisar (‘City of the Churches’).

Turks began to settle in the area in the wake of the Battle of Manzikert after 1071. In the course of time the fortifications of ancient Tyana vanished among the towns of Bor, Kemerhisar and Bahçeli.

Today the economy of Bor depends on grazing animals, plus some carpet weaving and leather-making. The countryside is too dry for planting crops, although there are vineyards and orchards (mainly apple and apricot) in Kemerhisar. Therefore this is a relatively poor district and many people have migrated to Europe or the larger cities of Turkey in search of jobs.

Bor Places of interest

  • Alâeddin Bey (Ulu Cami) Mosque - on the riverbank in the town centre.
  • S,eyh I.lyas or Kale Camii - 16th century Ottoman mosque.
  • The rocks where the Hittites worshipped the storms gods, in the village of Gökbez.
  • The ruins of Tyana (ancient Tuvanuva, Dana, Tyana) and a number of Roman waterways scattered over three hills between the villages of Bahçeli and Kemerhisar. These include the remains of a complex of Roman baths (Roma Hamam?) and a limestone aqueduct dated from the reign of Caracalla (211-217 A.D.). The original supply of the aqueduct, the monumental pool of Bahçeli (Roma Havuzu, 5.5 km NE) is still well preserved. It sits at the foot of Kös,k Höyük, a Hittite settlement excavated in 1981 that is turning out to be of great historical value. There are also other massive foundations of several large buildings, shafts, pillars, and one handsome column (replaced) still standing.
  • The mineral water and therapeutic mud-baths just south of Kemerhisar. The hot spring (15° C) mentioned in ancient writings still bubbles into a cold swamp. The mineral water is drunk for its healing powers and the site (I.çmeler) also includes a bathing pool.

Bor External links

Bor Pictures
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