WHERE DOES THE NAME OF KINIK COME FROM?

According to historians, Kinik means ‘it is precious wherever it is’. Its present name is from the Kinik Tribe of the Branch of Bozok of the Oghuz Turks.

GEOGRAPHY OF KINIK

Location: It was established in the northwest of the Aegean Region, between the Madra Mountains and the Yunt Mountains, on the northern skirts of the Kara and Sultan Mountains from the Yunt Mountains range, on the southern shore of the Bakircay Plain. East and South of Manisa province is surrounded by Soma District, West and North of it is surrounded by Bergama district. Its height from the sea is 40 meters in the plain, 90 meters in the settlement and 1000 meters in the highest hills. Its area is 436 square kilometers and ranks 12th among Izmir districts in terms of surface area.

It is 120 kilometers far from Izmir, 19 kilometers far from Bergama, 25 kilometers far from Soma, Manisa. Since Kinik District is neighbor with Soma, it is exposed to heavy truck traffic and cargo transportation. The highway network of the district is 27 km, 21 km of which is the state road, 6 km of which is provincial road and all of them are asphalt.

Climate:

It reflects the characteristics of Aegean and Marmara Region climates. Summers are hot and dry, autumn and winter are warm and rainy.

Landforms:

• Rivers / Lakes: The Bakircay River passing from east to west irrigates the Kinik Plain.

• Mountains / Plains and Plateaus: There are Sultan Mountains in the south, Egnez Mountain in the east; Ulubey and Leylek Plateaus covered with Kinik and Sucahli Plains.

Vegetation: Fertile forested lands with the majority of Red Pine and Oak species, large agricultural lands and pastures in the plains and plains.

Population and Characteristics: The population of the district is 28,337 people according to address-based population registration system data, and it is ranked 21st among the districts of our city in terms of population. 11,752 of this population live in the district center, 16,585 in towns and villages. In terms of population density, it is 71 people per square kilometer.

KINIK ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

The majority of our villages are built on mountainous terrain. 65% of the land is forest, 30% is cultivated area and 5% is meadow and pastures.

It has 3 municipalities and 29 villages, one of which is the Center. 23 of the villages are in forests or villages in sides of forest and 6 of them are plain villages. Almost all of our villages are collective.

Our district, known as Bergama-Kinik since the district remained as a sub-district of Bergama for a long time, has entered into a major leap in recent years. There are 4 tomato paste factories and 1 lime factory belonging to the private sector based on agricultural products, and establishment works of Organized Industrial Zone are completed in places and it is operational from place to place.

The suitability for agriculture and fertility of lands caused that the citizens of eastern provinces came to the district, especially Poyracik Town, and settled there. Agricultural workers of 400-500 people come to the district during cotton and tomato periods and forestry works. The district library was opened with the contributions of The Union formed for bringing services to villages and Kinik Municipality in the district center.

A library was opened in Poyracik Town in 1986 with the contributions of the municipality and it has 3115 books as of the end of 2005. The number of readers during the year is 1859. In the building provided by the Municipality in Yayakent Town, Nihat Mithat OZTURE library was closed in 1992 by Ozture Kireccilik Inc. due to lack of civil servants and building shortage.

Although there are rampire and temple ruins on a high hill named Mamurt within the borders of Karadere village, they have not been any research subject until today.

There is a local newspaper published every 15 days in the name of Kinik News in our district and continues its activities.

HISTORY OF KINIK

ANCIENT PERIOD

Our district has a historical history dating back to the Roman Empire, and it is believed to have been founded in place of Gambreion, an ancient settlement center. Mamurt Castle - Cybele Temple in the Karadere Forests covering the southeast and some ruins are proof of the history of the past.

TURKISH SOVEREIGNTY PERIOD

It takes its name from the Kinik Tribe of the Branch of Bozok of the Oghuz Turks.

The district came under the rule of the Ottoman State in 1330. Until 1820, it was managed by a gendarme organization in a village location. Kinik was connected to Balikesir in 1864 and to Manisa in 1875 and to Izmir in 1879. The district, which was transformed into a sub-district of Bergama district in 1910, was under Greek occupation for a while during the War of Independence, and was completely removed from the enemy on September 13, 1922. The establishment date of the municipal organization in the district is 1938.

After the Republic, it became a district in 1948 when it was a sub-district of Bergama. History of Kinik goes back to the Roman Empire.

REPUBLICAN PERIOD

Recovered from the enemy invasion on September 13, 1922, Kinik became a district in 1948. Abdurrahman ULKUER, one of the officers in attendance of Izmir, was appointed as the first district governor. At that time, the health and judicial organization was not established in the district. On the same day, the population administration became operational. The population of the district in 1923 was 34843 people, with a total of 34 villages. In the early years of the republic, the population of district, which had fertile agricultural land (Bakircay plain), made an effort to develop its agricultural economy. According to the data of 1967, while 4700 families were engaged in agriculture, this number was 3210 as a result of the transition from family agriculture to machinery agriculture in 1973 data.

KARADERE VILLAGE (MAMURT CASTLE – KYBELE)

Karadere Village is important for every study done on the history of Kinik. The history of Kinik start in the place known as Mamurt Hill today, which is 1984 m hill considered as the highest point of the Mountain of Yund. An ax made of green stone (Nephrite) from Neolithic period was found in this region. It is noteworthy that the Gümüsova ceramics resemble the Troy 1 and Troy 2 cultures. Stone foundations built by mud in Karadere Mamurt Castle are examples of the Chalcolithic and Bakircay cultures. Building foundations with the same characteristics can be seen on the small hill between Yayla village, Kinik and Kocaomer village. Among the ruins of the city walls in the place known as Mamurt Castle, there are the ruins of the Cybele Temple at the peak. Large cut granite fragments, large-bodied columns remain in ruins. Many pieces of marble have been taken away by people living in the surrounding villages for the foundations of the buildings. Other parts have been preserved in their locations because they are very heavy. The difficult access to the region has ensured that the parts remain in place, but many parts are missing and lost. Strabon gives the region its name Aspordene in his work called Geography. He points to the Cybele Temple in Mamurt Castle for the mountain where the mother goddess temple is located and which is the highest point of Yund Mountain. Kybele Temple on Mamdere Hill in Karadere is located on the top of the Yund Mountain, in an area under natural protection covered with rocky areas and surrounded by oak forests. Mamurt Cybele Temple is thought to have been destroyed in the earthquake in 17 AD.

The Cybele Temple in Mamurt Castle was built in the name of Cybele, the goddess of fertility. It was women who were tasked with protecting this temple, these women were called Amazon. Kybele sanctuaries were generally built in the mountains and it was believed that the Goddess resided in the bare yards near the freshwater springs. Kybele is believed to protect mothers and children from diseases.

During the Gambrion period, the center of Kinik was in the Kuskaya area, which is located on the upper side of the Bodrumbasi neighborhood today. The settlement was dominated by the plain and safe. The settlement was established especially in this area during the Ottoman Period, and the population growth over time shifted the settlement in Kinik towards the plain. After the Satraplik founded by Persians, Alexander the Great came to this region in 334 BC and the Hellenistic period started, Kinik provided important developments in terms of settlement. The influence of the Kingdom of Pergamum on the development of Kinik should not be overlooked. The construction of the majestic Kybele Temple (Sibel Temple) in Kinik Karadere Village is thanks to the King of Pergamon Philetairos (281-263 BC). Although the works made by many young artists, who had been educated in Bergama Sculpture School, in Kinik have not reached today, they have made important contributions to our region. The aqueduct in the Hasar region, one of which is still standing today, was built in those times. It would not be wrong to say that Kinik contains Palea-Gambrion. Although the city of Gambrion was established in the hills above Poyracik, it expanded and spread to include today's football field and newly established industrial site.

The city of Gambrion developed mining work thanks to the coal and iron mines obtained from the Yunt mountains. Today, coal was extracted from the area that we know as Yayla village, and silver from Kocaomer village. Gambrion people, who use the mines well, were marketing their products abroad. Gold work in Gambrion had gone to an advanced level, it is a fact that the gold mine was obtained from Kalarga (the hill on the roof of Bergama-Dikili road) or a closer gold mine. These mines were previously operated by the kingdom of Lydia. After the Persians invaded in the region, the mines fell to the Persians. The Persians remained in this region for a long time and established a satrap. When the tyrant of Erythrai (Cesme) was married to a woman of the descendant of the Persian king, Gambrion and Palae-Gambrion were given as a gift for Gonglyus. The people later moved to the side of the Spartans. The first electron coins (gold-silver mixture coin) of the city of Gambrion minted around 400 BC. The first printed electron coins are important in terms of showing us the richness of Gambrion and the dimensions of the progress in mining. Later; silver, bronze and copper coins were printed. Gambrion did not only provide wealth by trading. The territory of the region was in the Bakırcay basin, one of the most fertile plains in the world.

BESIKTAS HILL

Besiktas Hill has an important place with its features of seeing Kinik from the highest point and leaving important clues from the past with its historical traces. Besiktas Hill got its name because the hill was compared to a baby cradle. Due to two caves on Besiktas Hill, it has been the subject of many stories and rumors. The north side of Besiktas Hill overlooks Kinik and the south side overlooks the plain and the Yunt Mountains and wide grassland areas. Today, herd of goats, especially of sheep and goats, make use of large grazing areas on the south facing side of Besiktas Hill. The side of Besiktas Hill facing Kinik has quite steep rocks, which provides a natural protection to the hill. On the south side of the hill, it is surrounded by city walls which completely protected the hill with East-West extension. Making the hill so sheltering reveals the importance of this place. Bergama and all Bakircay plains can be easily observed from Besiktas Hill. It is certain that the hill is one of the very old settlements. As it is understood from the coins, ceramic pieces and other objects discovered from the region, the hill was used in Gambrion, the Kingdom of Pergamon, Roman and Byzantine periods. Besiktas Hill got its share from plunder, in the hope of finding gold, people played havoc with the building foundations. This plunder still continues. It was not known exactly when the walls of the hill collapsed; it was probably damaged in a major earthquake and could not be repaired again. Making the hill sheltering was probably the result of the labor of people living in Greek colonies that escaped from Persian attacks and tried to protect themselves. In the 7th century BC, Greek colonies formed small settlements here. In the 5th century BC, during the time of 1^st Dara who was the Persian king of Iran, important raids were organized in this region, and people who tried to protect themselves from the Persian oppression, which had a colonialist and slaveist structure, created defensive points in mountainous areas such as Besiktas Hill. However, these defensive points were soon broken by the Persians and the region was completely under Persian domination. The people of the region, who were rising from time to time and struggling for their independence, were crushed under great pressure in the 200 years that passed until Alexander cleansed the region from Persians.

One of the two caves on Besiktas Hill is natural and the other is man-made. The cave on the hill is man-made and is now collapsed. It was possible to use this cave, which has a closed entrance, as a place where the provisions are kept or to imprison the criminals. In addition, the fact that this cave reaches to the castle of Bergama is only a story and has nothing to do with reality.

THE CASTLE OF HASAR(Kocaomer)

The road passing by the mills from the lower part of Kocaomer village proceeds along the Karadere, and when this road is followed, it comes to the area called Asar. There is a hill in the image of the tumulus, which gives the impression of being made by hand; this hill is called Asar Castle. Its real form is the fortress, not a castle and took this name during the Ottoman period. As it is known, the fortresses appear as surveillance and defense points. The height of the Asar hill is 475 meters; the hill is surrounded by wall ruins. There is a large cistern right in the middle of the hill, it consists of four bowl-shaped cut stones with a diameter of 2 meters and five pots where water is collected in a larger area in the middle, and the bowls are connected by small channels. This cistern was built to meet the water need of the high castle. Although we do not have a written source about the history of Asar Hill, when we visit the southern slopes of the hill, large building foundations can be seen. It turns out that the collected products were transferred to Gambrion or Bergama by land and then to the seashore and they transferred to other countries by sea trade. Karadere (Black Creek) passes right by the Asar hill and the two branches meet at this point. It is believed that the real name of Karadere comes from Kharadra in Luwi language. In Luwi language, Kharadra means deep bed of water coming from the mountain. It flows very quickly from the place called Asperdenum (Mamurt Hill), which is the highest place of Karadere Junt (Yunt) mountains, to Asar Hill. The flow of water tranquilizes where Asar Hill is located. Later, it folds in the Kinik plain and reaches Bakircay.

The first research of the Asar fortress by archaeologists was made on August 14, 1877. In the work titled ''Alter Tumer Von Pergamon’’, the content of this trip and what has been identified are described. Asar Hill consists of three parts; in the first section, there is the cistern in the flat area; in the second section, there are the inner wall at the top, the outer city walls and the observation areas at the bottom and in the third section, the building foundations at the are located on the sloping land to the south. It seems almost impossible to climb up to Asar Hill from east, west and north. These parts are suitable for observing the whole plain towards Bergama, Kinik and Soma. The entrances and exits to the castle here are only from the south direction.

Asar Hill was an important watchtower against the Turks during the Persian attacks on Lydia, during the expansion and stagnation periods of the Pergamon kingdom and during the Byzantine period. Especially during the Byzantine period, the inner and outer fortress walls of the hill were built with lime, stone and brick, and were reinforced. This technique called Horasan is formed by using lime, sand, gravel, straw and eggs and has a concrete effect. The side walls of many Byzantine graves were built in this way and the graves were secured. The wall thicknesses on the Asar Hill are approximately 5 meters, and the height is about 8.5 meters and 10 meters at the current dimensions. The hill has been well protected with internal and external walls, few of these walls have survived to the present day, and have been destroyed and disintegrated due to earthquakes, fires and natural causes.

STORIES ABOUT KINIK

BESIKTAS HILL

One of the two caves on Besiktas Hill is natural and the other is man-made. The cave on the hill is man-made and is now collapsed. It was possible to use this cave, which has a closed entrance, as a place where the provisions are kept or to imprison the criminals. In addition, the fact that this cave reaches to the castle of Bergama is only a story and has nothing to do with reality.

Many stories are told about these caves. One of them is attractive. According to the story, the King of Bergama secretly came to Besiktas Hill passing through a tunnel with his car made of pure gold drawn by Mytilene horses and met his lover who lived on this hill. After a while, as a result of an earthquake, the entrance part of the tunnel on the Besiktas side collapses, and the king tries desperately to reach his young lover through the tunnel but fails. While the king tries to pass through the tunnel with his car made of gold one more last time, another place emerges from the interior of the tunnel, the king manages to leave his car and throw himself out, but unfortunately his car is left in the tunnel. The young and beautiful girl who waits for the king's lover throughout the night is very sad not to come, throws herself down the rocks and dies. The painful king, who learned this event, has a beautiful grave inside the entrance of the tunnel on the Besiktas Hill side built for the young girl. He has the entrance of the tunnel closed so that it will not be opened forever again, and nobody has been able to enter the tunnel until today.

Source: “Bilmedigimiz Kinik ve Gambrion” by Gurcan IMERT

Photographs: Hayrettin Ekin (Photo Color / Kinik)

ECONOMY OF KINIK

Industry and Commerce

Workshops and factories where industrial agricultural products (cotton, tobacco, olives) are processed first started to be established in 1971 and brought a rapid momentum to the economy. As of 1990, there are 4 tomato paste factories, 4 ginning factories, 3 olive oil businesses and one dairy farm as a result of the work of the private sector and its sub-districts. Extract-type limestone in the district is one of our country's most modern facilities. The organized industrial zone established in Kinik Kocaomer Village is an important industrial zone consisting of 18 large factories. 8 textile factories, which are industrial organizations based on agriculture, are in a position to strengthen the economy of Kinik in the field of agriculture. Under the leadership of Izmir Governorship and Kinik Municipality, infrastructure works have reached the completion point in the OIZ, which is planned to be established on an area of 78680 square meters. All 43 parcels have been sold. The damper industry, the construction of which has been completed, has started to manufacture and the food industry facility construction has come to the completion point.

Tourism:

There is almost no tourism in the district. There are no touristic facilities, museums and archaeological sites. Although there are rampire and temple ruins on a high hill named Mamurt within the borders of Karadere village, no research has been done in the region to this day.

THE LIST OF SIMPLE ACCOMMODATION CERTIFICATED FACILITIES

Kınık District Public Library:

Adress: Evren Cad. No:4 Poyracık/Kınık  Phone: 0(232) 688 11 19

Statistics of Books and Readers (First 6 Months of 2023)