İspir

{{Infobox Turkey place | type = metro district | name = İspir | image_skyline = IspirCastle.jpg | image_caption = İspir castle and the historic citadel mosque. | image_map = Erzurum location İspir.png | map_caption = Map showing İspir District in Erzurum Province | coordinates = {{coord|40|29|01|N|40|59|43|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | province = Erzurum | leader_party = MHP | leader_name = Ahmet Coşkun | leader_name1 = | area_total_km2 = 2129 | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/> | population_total = 14607 | population_as_of = 2022 | postal_code = 25900 | area_code = 0442 | website = {{url|http://www.ispir.bel.tr/}} }} '''İspir''' ({{langx|hy|Սպեր|Sper}}; {{lang-ka|სპერი|tr}}) is a municipality and [[Districts of Turkey|district]] of [[Erzurum Province]], [[Turkey]].<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.</ref> Its area is 2,129 km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=12 July 2023}}</ref> and its population is 14,607 (2022).<ref name=tuik>{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=12 July 2023|publisher=[[TÜİK]]|language=en|format=XLS}}</ref> It is on the [[Çoruh River]]. The mayor is Ahmet Coşkun ([[Nationalist Movement Party|MHP]]).

==History== {{Main|Speri (historical region)}}

İspir is known from the 3rd millennium BC. {{citation needed|date=July 2014}} The ancient kingdom of [[Hayasa-Azzi]] (2nd millennium BC) was located in the upper reaches of the rivers Euphrates and Chorokh, and included Sper. The name Sper is thought by some to be derived from [[Saspers]], or [[Saspeires|Sasperi]], the name Sper with a [[Georgian language|Georgian]] prefix of place Sa-, which evolved into the term [[Kingdom of Iberia|Iberian]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|title=Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia|pages=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&dq=medes+conquered+urartu&pg=PA18|isbn=978-1780230702|publisher=Reaktion Books|year=2013}}</ref> The Saspers were mentioned by [[Xenophon]];<ref name="A. Sinclair 1989, p272">T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", Volume 2, 1989, p272</ref>

{{cquote|The illustrious dynasty of the Bagrationi originated in the most ancient Georgian district – Speri (today İspir).<ref>Centered on the modern-day district of İspir, northeastern [[Turkey]], this province is sometimes thought to have been the cradle of the [[Georgian people]] (Suny [1994], p. 11).{{full|date=July 2014}}, It lay in what is frequently referred to as the ''Armeno-Georgian marchlands'' where the two communities coexisted and intermingled for several centuries, but the Georgian Speri and the Armenian [[Sper (Armenia)|Sper]] may not always be absolutely identical (cf. [[Tayk]] and [[Tao-Klarjeti|Tao]], Rapp [2003], p. 14).{{full|date=July 2014}}</ref> Through their farsighted, flexible policies, the Bagrationi achieved great influence from the sixth through eighth centuries. One of their branches moved out to [[Armenia]], the other to Georgian Kingdom of [[Principality of Iberia|Iberia]], and both won for themselves the dominant position among the other rulers of Transcaucasia.<ref>Berdzenishvili et al., ''История Грузии'', p. 129, cited in: Suny (1994), p. 349{{full|date=July 2014}}</ref> {{Clarify|date=July 2014}}}}

In the 4th-3rd centuries BC Sper was organized into a province of the [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberian Kingdom]] as noted by [[Strabo]]. {{citation needed|date=July 2014}} [[Alexander the Great]] sent one of his generals Menon to conquer Sper, but Menon and his forces were defeated and killed. {{citation needed|date=July 2014}} The region was then a part of [[Upper Armenia]] ({{langx|hy|Բարձր Հայք}}, Bardzr Hayk'), a province of [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Greater Armenia]], since the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. After this, Sper was an Armenian Bagratid domain in the 4th - 6th centuries, the territory of which also comprised the Bayburt plain until that was lost to the Byzantines (perhaps in 387).<ref name="A. Sinclair 1989, p272"/>

In the 7th century it passed to the [[Arab Caliphate]]; in 885 [[Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia]]. Under the medieval [[Kingdom of Armenia (Middle Ages)|Kingdom of Armenia]], it was part of the province of [[Upper Armenia]] and was famous for its gold mines. In the 11th century it was conquered by the [[Seljuqs]]. Ispir was under the control of the [[Saltukids]] till 1124<ref name="Eastern Turkey">{{cite book|last1=Sinclair|first1=T.A.|title=Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I|date=1989|publisher=Pindar Press|isbn=9780907132325|pages=265–266-267–281-283–289-290}}</ref> when the [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgians]] took over power, governed by Zakare and Ivane [[Zakarid]]s as a fief. It was recaptured by Mughith ad Din Tughrul, son of the Seljuk sultan [[Kilij Arslan II]], sometime between 1201 and 1225.<ref name="Eastern Turkey" /> He built a mosque in the citadel which still survives.<ref name="Eastern Turkey" /> It was conquered in 1242 by the [[Mongols]]; was regained by Georgian Kingdom during the reign of [[George V of Georgia|George V the Brilliant]] (1314–1346), it remained part of the Kingdom before its disintegration, which then passed into the hands of [[Samtskhe-Saatabago|Georgian Atabegs]] belonging to the [[Jaqeli|House of Jaqeli]]; it was conquered in 1502 by [[Safavid dynasty|Persia]] and was probably in 1515<ref name="Eastern Turkey" /> taken by the [[Ottoman Empire]] from the Georgian ruler of Samtskhe.<ref name="Eastern Turkey" />

The town was occupied in 1916 by the Russians during [[World War I]] and the [[Armenian genocide]], then was recaptured by the Turks in 1918.

Historic sights in the town are the citadel, a mosque and a church in the citadel (probably 13th century), the originally 13th century ''Çarsi'' mosque's building being a recent structure.<ref name="Eastern Turkey" /> The ''Sultan Melik'' mosque and [[Madrasa]] built in the 13th century, the Madrasa of ''Kadizade Mehmet'' built in 1725/26, ''Kadizade'' was the Mufti of Erzurum from 1744 to 1759 and his father was the [[Qadi]] of Ispir.<ref name="Eastern Turkey" /> There is also a tomb with a graveyard containing some Ottoman tombstones.<ref name="Eastern Turkey" />

==Climate== The climate is described as [[Humid continental climate|Humid continental]] by [[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]], abbreviated as ''Dfa''.<ref name="WMONormals"/>

{{Weather box | width = auto | collapsed = yes | metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = İspir (1991–2020) | Jan high C = 2.5 | Feb high C = 4.5 | Mar high C = 10.3 | Apr high C = 16.7 | May high C = 22.1 | Jun high C = 27.2 | Jul high C = 31.3 | Aug high C = 32.0 | Sep high C = 27.5 | Oct high C = 20.2 | Nov high C = 11.4 | Dec high C = 4.4 | year high C = 17.6 | Jan mean C = -2.6 | Feb mean C = -1.0 | Mar mean C = 4.4 | Apr mean C = 10.0 | May mean C = 14.7 | Jun mean C = 19.3 | Jul mean C = 23.3 | Aug mean C = 23.7 | Sep mean C = 18.9 | Oct mean C = 12.5 | Nov mean C = 4.9 | Dec mean C = -0.6 | year mean C = 10.7 | Jan low C = -6.5 | Feb low C = -5.4 | Mar low C = -0.6 | Apr low C = 4.2 | May low C = 8.3 | Jun low C = 12.1 | Jul low C = 16.0 | Aug low C = 16.4 | Sep low C = 11.2 | Oct low C = 6.3 | Nov low C = 0.1 | Dec low C = -4.3 | year low C = 4.9 | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 28.0 | Feb precipitation mm = 30.43 | Mar precipitation mm = 42.97 | Apr precipitation mm = 54.84 | May precipitation mm = 59.51 | Jun precipitation mm = 37.65 | Jul precipitation mm = 25.24 | Aug precipitation mm = 15.9 | Sep precipitation mm = 21.24 | Oct precipitation mm = 42.4 | Nov precipitation mm = 36.43 | Dec precipitation mm = 33.4 | year precipitation mm = 428.01

| Jan humidity = 69.2 | Feb humidity = 65.7 | Mar humidity = 59.4 | Apr humidity = 57.8 | May humidity = 58.1 | Jun humidity = 53.5 | Jul humidity = 49.4 | Aug humidity = 49.4 | Sep humidity = 51.2 | Oct humidity = 60.2 | Nov humidity = 64.8 | Dec humidity = 71.5 | year humidity = 59.1 | source = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]]<ref name="WMONormals">{{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Ispir_17666.csv |title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — İspir |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = January 15, 2024}}</ref> }}

==Economy==

As of 1920, [[coal]] was being produced in the area.<ref name=Prothero72>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=72|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/72/}}</ref>

==Composition== There are 101 [[mahalle|neighbourhoods]] in İspir District:<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.</ref> {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * [[Ahlatlı, İspir|Ahlatlı]] * [[Akgüney, İspir|Akgüney]] * [[Akpınar, İspir|Akpınar]] * [[Akseki, İspir|Akseki]] * [[Aksu, İspir|Aksu]] * [[Aktaş, İspir|Aktaş]] * [[Alacabük, İspir|Alacabük]] * [[Araköy, İspir|Araköy]] * [[Ardıçlı, İspir|Ardıçlı]] * [[Armutlu, İspir|Armutlu]] * [[Aşağıfındıklı, İspir|Aşağıfındıklı]] * Aşağıözbağ * [[Atürküten, İspir|Atürküten]] * [[Avcıköy, İspir|Avcıköy]] * [[Bademli, İspir|Bademli]] * [[Bahçeli, İspir|Bahçeli]] * [[Başçeşme, İspir|Başçeşme]] * [[Başköy, İspir|Başköy]] * [[Başpınar, İspir|Başpınar]] * [[Bostancı, İspir|Bostancı]] * [[Bozan, İspir|Bozan]] * [[Çakmaklı, İspir|Çakmaklı]] * Çamlıca * Çamlıkaya * [[Cankurtaran, İspir|Cankurtaran]] * [[Çatakkaya, İspir|Çatakkaya]] * [[Çayırbaşı, İspir|Çayırbaşı]] * [[Çayırözü, İspir|Çayırözü]] * [[Cibali, İspir|Cibali]] * Çiçekli * [[Değirmendere, İspir|Değirmendere]] * [[Değirmenli, İspir|Değirmenli]] * [[Demirbilek, İspir|Demirbilek]] * [[Demirkaya, İspir|Demirkaya]] * [[Devedağı, İspir|Devedağı]] * [[Duruköy, İspir|Duruköy]] * [[Düzköy, İspir|Düzköy]] * Elmalı * Gaziler * [[Geçitağzı, İspir|Geçitağzı]] * [[Göçköy, İspir|Göçköy]] * [[Gölyurt, İspir|Gölyurt]] * Gülhas * Güllübağ * [[Gündoğdu, İspir|Gündoğdu]] * [[Güney, İspir|Güney]] * [[Halilpaşa, İspir|Halilpaşa]] * İkisu * [[İncesu, İspir|İncesu]] * [[Irmakköy, İspir|Irmakköy]] * [[İyidere, İspir|İyidere]] * [[Karahan, İspir|Karahan]] * [[Karakale, İspir|Karakale]] * [[Karakamış, İspir|Karakamış]] * [[Karakaya, İspir|Karakaya]] * [[Karaseydi, İspir|Karaseydi]] * Karşıyaka * [[Kavaklı, İspir|Kavaklı]] * [[Kaynakbaşı, İspir|Kaynakbaşı]] * [[Kirazlı, İspir|Kirazlı]] * [[Kırık, İspir|Kırık]] * [[Kızılhasan, İspir|Kızılhasan]] * [[Koçköy, İspir|Koçköy]] * [[Köprüköy, İspir|Köprüköy]] * [[Kümetaş, İspir|Kümetaş]] * [[Leylekköy, İspir|Leylekköy]] * Madenköprübaşı * [[Mescitli, İspir|Mescitli]] * Meydanlı * [[Moryayla, İspir|Moryayla]] * [[Mülkköy, İspir|Mülkköy]] * [[Numanpaşa, İspir|Numanpaşa]] * [[Ortaköy, İspir|Ortaköy]] * [[Ortaören, İspir|Ortaören]] * [[Özlüce, İspir|Özlüce]] * [[Öztoprak, İspir|Öztoprak]] * [[Petekli, İspir|Petekli]] * [[Pınarlı, İspir|Pınarlı]] * [[Sandıklı, İspir|Sandıklı]] * [[Şenköy, İspir|Şenköy]] * [[Sırakonak, İspir|Sırakonak]] * [[Soğuksu, İspir|Soğuksu]] * [[Taşbaşı, İspir|Taşbaşı]] * [[Taşlıca, İspir|Taşlıca]] * [[Tekpınar, İspir|Tekpınar]] * [[Tepecik, İspir|Tepecik]] * [[Ulubel, İspir|Ulubel]] * [[Ulutaş, İspir|Ulutaş]] * [[Üzümbağı, İspir|Üzümbağı]] * [[Yağlı, İspir|Yağlı]] * [[Yaylacık, İspir|Yaylacık]] * [[Yedigöl, İspir|Yedigöl]] * [[Yedigöze, İspir|Yedigöze]] * [[Yeşiltepe, İspir|Yeşiltepe]] * [[Yeşilyurt, İspir|Yeşilyurt]] * [[Yıldıztepe, İspir|Yıldıztepe]] * Yukarı * [[Yukarıfındıklı, İspir|Yukarıfındıklı]] * Yukarıözbağ * [[Yunusköy, İspir|Yunusköy]] * [[Zeyrek, İspir|Zeyrek]] {{div col end}}

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.ispir.gov.tr/ The website of the governor of İspir] *[http://www.kirazli.org/ The website of the tourism info] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609223455/http://www.kirazli.org/ |date=2007-06-09 }}

[[Category:İspir| ]] [[Category:Populated places in Erzurum Province]] [[Category:Former provinces of Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Historical regions of Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Tao-Klarjeti]] [[Category:Districts of Erzurum Province]] [[Category:Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey]]