Isparta

Turkey

Also known as: İsparta, Hamid-Abad, Hamideli

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Article History

Also spelled:: İsparta

Formerly:: Hamid-Abad or Hamideli

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Isparta, city, western Turkey. It is located at the western end of the Taurus Mountains.

Known as Baris under the Byzantine Empire, it was taken by the Seljuq Turks in 1203–04. Later it belonged to the Turkmen Hamid principality, the last ruler of which sold it to the Ottoman sultan about 1381. The city’s monuments include a ruined medieval fortress and several mosques, of which Firdevs Paşa Cami is a work of the 16th-century master court architect Sinan.

Isparta is known for its roses and attar (fragrant oil) of roses and for its carpets. A branchline connects it with the main Anatolian railway. Pop. (2000) 148,496; (2013 est.) 198,385.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.