Menderes

WHERE DOES THE NAME OF MENEMEN COME FROM?

Although there is definitive evidence in this regard, some narrations have been made.

1. When asked the Persian King who loves to boast during the Persian Kingdom, who took this city, he replied "men, men". In Persian, "men" is the equivalent of "I" pronoun. This saying later has become Menemen.
2. Eumen, King of Pergamum, gave the city its name, and later turned into this Menemen form.
3. During the Byzantine domination, the name "maino-menau" has become Menemen taking the present form of this phrase, changing over time.

History of Menemen

Although the foundation of Menemen dates back to BC, no exact date has been determined. The district is said to have been founded around the present-day Yahselli Village and was transferred to the vicinity of Asarlik Village between 263-241 BC.

The Ionians came and settled here in 78 BC. Menemen, who remained in the Lydians for about 300 years, passed to the Iranians when the Lydian King Croesus was defeated to Keyhusrev (503 BC). Menemen, who remained in the Iranians for 72 years, was captured by the ancient Greeks after the King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great, defeated the 3^rd Dara from Iran kings (331 BC). After the death of Alexander the Great, Menemen passed to the Kingdom of Pergamum and then to the Romans (191 BC).

When the Roman Empire was divided into two in 395 AD, Menemen remained in the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1084 AD, Menemen and its surroundings was captured by Seljuks and passed in other hands and were destroyed several times. Later, Menemen, which was of the Beylik of Aydin, came under the Ottoman country in 1398 by Yildirim Bayezid. When Yildirim Bayezid was defeated by Timurlenk in the Battle of Ankara in 1402, Timurlenk gave its independence back to the Anatolian Beyliks. In 1425, Menemen definitely was affiliated to the Ottomans by 2^nd Murat.

Upon the transfer of the principality center from Aydin to Izmir in 1850, Menemen was left from Manisa and connected to Izmir.

Menemen, which remained under Ottoman rule for 479 years, was occupied by Greeks on May 7, 1919. The Greeks, who martyred the governor Kemal Bey, remained in Menemen for 3 years, 3 months and 16 days. On September 9, 1922, the Turkish Cavalry Army under the command of Fahrettin Pasha saved Menemen from the Greeks. September 9 was the Independence Day of Menemen.

Goegraphical Position

Menemen connected to Izmir Province is 35 km away from Izmir. Menemen is 27.4 degrees longitude and 38.35 degrees latitude. It is surrounded by Manisa Province in the east, Foca District in the west, Aegean Sea and Aliaga District in the north, Cigli District in the south. Its height above sea level is 20 m on average.

Surface Area: 655 km² (approximately) Note: Its surface area, which was 665 km² previously, was reduced by approximately 10 km² since Harmandali Town was connected to Cigli District after Local Elections on March 29, 2009

Landforms

It is surrounded by smoky mountains in the east and northeast, and Yamanlar Mountain in the south and southeast. However, it was separated from each other by the valley opened by the Gediz River and the line that was formerly a single piece. The delta and plain filled by this river are suitable for agriculture, and there are salty marshes at sea level. Heights located in the west of the plain such as Tasli Hill, Degirmendere, Uctepeler, rise as islands with steep slopes on alluvial grounds.

Rivers and Lakes

The Gediz River, which passes through Menemen, is the life vein of the district. The delta formed by this river is the largest delta of Western Anatolia. Menemen Plain is in the lower Gediz basin, surrounded by Yamanlar Mountain in the east and mountainous region of Foca in the west.

Climate

Menemen is uniform in terms of climate factors. It has the character of Mediterranean climate, summers are dry and hot, and winters are warm and rainy. Average annual rainfall is 616 mm; annual average temperature is 19 ^°C. Of the climatic features, all of the plain soils are deep and generally medium-heavy alluvium. Through the Emiralem Regulator and irrigation network established on the Gediz River, which flows into the sea from the south of Foca District by passing the Menemen plain, the plain has been become a suitable area for fully irrigated agriculture. There are many spring waters in the Karagol area located on Yamanlar Mountain.

Guide of Menemen » Population

We come across information about the population in the yearbook of Aydin. According to the yearbook of 1895, 14,214 Muslims, 5424 Greeks, 295 Bulgarians and 254 Armenians lived in Menemen. According to the yearbook in 1901, the population of the central district was 6652 and the total population is 22,901.

The majority of the people were indigenous, and citizens from Bulgaria and Yugoslavia have settled in settlements of Musabey, Cavus, Maltepe and Turkelli since 1937.

There are families who have migrated and settled from eastern provinces to our district for employment. Apart from these families, many workers come from the neighboring provinces to work in the field of agriculture and return to their hometown at the end of the season. These are not included in the population.

There has been an increase in Mass Housing construction in our district in recent years. There was an increase in the population especially due to the mass housing in Ulukent, Seyrek, Koyundere and Asarlik.

As of 2010 (01.01.2010 - 31.12.2010), according to 2007 Population Census (TurkStat Data);

POPULATION OF CENTRAL DISTRICT: 119.230

POPULATION OF VILLAGES: 12.164

TOTAL POPULATION: 131.394

After the 9 March Local Elections, Harmandali Town (6.162 inhabitants) was connected to Cigli District. In addition, Towns of Asarlik, Emiralem, Koyundere, Maltepe, Seyek, Turkelli, Ulukent were connected to District Central Municipality as neighborhoods.

As of 12.11.2010, Neighborhood of Ulukent Ahmet Efendi was affiliated to Cigli.

91% of the district population lives in the district center and its settlements and 9% in the villages.

ADMINISTRATIVE STATUS

While there are 1 central municipality, 8 town municipalities and 27 villages, as of 23.07.2004 pursuant to the Local Administration Law No. 5216; A total of 16 villages, including Ayvacik, Bagcilar, Belen, Buruncuk, Calti, Cavus, Doga, Gunerli, Haykiran, Kesik, Musabey, Suzbeyli, Telekler, Tuzcullu, Yahselli and Yanik, have been gained neighborhood entities, and the village legal entity of 11 villages has been maintained.

Villages have a mass settlement structure. They were usually established at close distances to each other. But; according to the decision taken in the session of Metropolitan Municipality Council dated 13.06.2005; Villages of Belen, Haykiran, Yanik, Doga, then Villages of Calti, Telekler, Bagcilar, Ayvacik and Yahselli got their village legal entities again and the number of villages increased to 20.

After the local administrations elections held on 29.03.2009, the legal entities of the 7 Municipalities (Asarlik, Emiralem, Koyundere, Maltepe, Seyrek, Turkeli, Ulukent Towns) were closed. They were affliated to the district municipality as a neighborhood.

Harmandali Town; with reference to the law numbered 5747 published in the Official Journal dated May 22, 2008, on "Amending Some Laws and Establishing a District within the boundaries of Metropolitan Municipality", after the Local Administrations Elections held on the date of 29.03.2009, Harmandali Town was attached to Cigli District.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

Housing: After 1972, the central district has showed a rapid urbanization. In order to meet the housing needs in the district center in vacant parcels, dwellings have been produced and delivered to the owners by 8 housing cooperatives with 1500 dwellings in Hidirlik region of Kazimpasa Neighborhood.

In addition, a large number of mass housing areas have been built in Ulukent, Koyundere, Asarlik and Seyrek in recent years.

Pottery in Menemen

Pottery is highly developed in Menemen district. There are 8 great workshops in Menemen; there are those who learn this art from the new generation unlike many regions.

In addition to using items such as cubes, flower pots, glasses, small jugs etc. tourist souvenirs are also included in the works. Since there are no shelves in the ovens used for firing, such items are fired by placing them in flower pots or similar products.

Although one of the masters of Menemen has not received any art education, he has received a small number of wall panel orders from time to time because he showed his peculiarity to open a personal exhibition in Izmir with his different, glazed works. Thus, we can say that people of Menemen are in the transition phase from pottery to ceramics.

Clay used in Menemen is suitable for making glazed and unglazed products in one firing. With firewood firing, it lasts for 12 hours on average. In order to increase the reduction in the furnace, the old car tires are fired towards the end of the firing and the used other pottery glazes are gained an unprecedented look.

Panaztepe

Panaztepe is located 13 km west of Menemen District in Izmir Province, on a natural hill and on its slopes at the northern end of the hills community called Yeditepeler. The studies, which started in 1985 as a rescue excavation and turned into scientific excavation status, are conducted under the chairmanship of Armagan ERKANAL from the professors of Hacettepe University Archeology Department. Today, at the skirts of the hill, which are filled with the alluviums carried by the Gediz River, there are settlements dating from the 3^rd millennium BC to the Ottoman period, even with interruptions. Prof. Dr. Armagan ERKANAL states that Panaztepe was settled as an island city or peninsula in accordance with the evidence related to this settlement. Island settlement of Panaztepe is located in a place where sea trade is focused on the one hand and land trade on the other. When taken together with the Gediz Valley, which forms the sea connection of the famous royal road, it is seen that it is located at a strategic point. Trade connections with countries such as Greece, Aegean Islands, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, Syria-Palestine and Egypt have been made by sea on the one hand and by land trade on Central Anatolia on the other; as a result of these relations, intense socio-economic and cultural interactions took place with these regions.

In the studies carried out in the acropolis part, a large building complex was found in the northern part. Due to its location on the hill and the quality ceramics uncovered, it is thought that the complex may be an official building related to the management of the period belonging to the 2^nd millennium BC. This building complex was destroyed due to the monumental construction dated to the Archaic Period to the first half of the 1^st millennium BC and the rampire foundations.

Studies carried out in the eastern part of the hill and on its skirts suggest that there was a continuous port settlement from the end of the Early Bronze Age to the end of the Late Bronze Age. The oldest period in this region is represented by a long house type structure that reflects the transition period from the 3^rd to the 2^nd millennium BC. In the studies carried out in the northern excavation area, two different structures that have more warehouse characteristics from the Byzantine Period were unearthed just below the surface.

The southern part of Panaztepe is important in that it was used as a cemetery in the Roman and Islamic Period as well as in the Late Bronze Age. It is the most interesting and largest cemetery in Western Anatolia. The cemetery area, dated to the Late Bronze Age, is the largest known cemetery among other examples known in Anatolia, and it attracts attention with its unique cemetery arrangement. The cemetery had two main areas and it was determined that it was used in independent periods. The first of these (the 1st Area of the Cemetery) is where the tholos tombs (the chamber tomb with fake dome and a short circular dromos) are located and its main stages were dated to 14^th and 13rd BC centuries. Various finds were discovered from the graves found here. Terracotta pots, Myken pots; glass beads; rich ornaments, bronze weapons made of various materials; seals; The bronze "seal bracelet" found in situ in the arm of the male person buried with his guns are among the finds. 2^nd area of the cemetery was closed with a stone platform and sealed. Within the platform, a parceling applied using different size of stone plates attracts attention. It is a unique practice to separate the graves by parcels with a certain arrangement. Paths for walk or areas for different purposes were left between the parcels. Various examples of pithos, stone sarcophagus and composite tomb types connected to the stone platform were unearthed. Among the ceramic artifacts took from these tombs are terracotta vessels reflecting gold and silver vessels. Also, the fact that two scrapes were found from pithos tombs reveals the close relations with Egypt.

The data obtained as a result of the excavations carried out so far show that Panaztepe has strong relations not only with other neighboring cultures in Anatolia but also with the surrounding cultural regions such as Greece, Crete, Aegean Islands, Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean.

TOURISM STATISTCS:

The Number of Certificated Accommodation Facilities by Ministry of Culture and Tourism:

Tourism Investment Certificated Facilities

THE LIST OF SIMPLE ACCOMMODATION CERTIFICATED FACILITIES

Menemen District Public Library

Adress: Şehir Parkı Kütüphane Sok. No:71 Menemen, Phone: 0(232) 832 26 02

Menemen Seyrek Public Library

Adress: Seyrek Köyiçi Mevkii İnönü Mah. Kavaklı Cad. No:9 Seyrek/Menemen

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