Aydin

Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey’s Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient Meander River) at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast. Its population was 207,554 in 2014.Aydın city is located along a region which was famous for its fertility and productivity since ancient times. Figs remain the province’s best-known crop, although other agricultural products are also grown intensively and the city has some light industry.

It is an important trading centre on the highway and rail line between Afyon and Izmir. Nearby is the site of ancient Tralles, said to have been founded by the Argives. Aydın was called Guzelhisar (“Beautiful Castle”) under the Turkmen Menteşe emirs in the 13th century. Renamed for the 14th-century ruling dynasty of Aydın, it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire about 1390. Timur (Tamerlane), who conquered it in 1402, reestablished the principality of Aydın, but it was soon recaptured by the Ottomans. The city was heavily damaged in September 1922 when the retreating Greeks set it afire as a final gesture before they surrendered to the Turkish nationalists. The city’s historical buildings include mosques and a theological school. A Roman gymnasium (4th century BCE), a marble column, and the theatre are the only remains of Tralles.