KAYSERİ

A 4,000 year aid trading center, the capital af Cappadacia, ance a center of orthodax monastic life, an open air museum of the Seijuk and Beylik periods. a and af beautiful carpets and deiicious pastirrna… Kayseri is ali this and mare.

Kayseri sits in a valley ta the narth af Erciyes Mauntain which, with Hasan Mauntain and athen extinct valcanos, created the fantastic geolagical formatians found in Avanos, ldngüp, and Nevşehir. While Kayseri itselfdaesn’t exhibit any unusual tapagraphy, we knaw fram archaealagical remains faund in surnounding tumuh that the city dates fram 3,500 B.C. Faurthausand years aga, the Assynian trading calany, Kanis karum, lacated 22 ki autside the

present day city af Kayseri, was the center af a vital trade naute.

Duning the Hittite Empine the city retained its impartance as a link in cammerce between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. in 550 B.C. the Persians invaded Kayseri and designated it the center af the pravince af Cappadacia. When the Ramans captured the city in the 1 st century B.C. they renamed it Caesarea, fram wbich the Turkish name Kayseri is derived. in the first century A.D. it became an impartant center af Cbristianity due ta St. Basil, an nfluential figure in the deveiapment af artbadax manasticism in the regian.

Kayseri cbanged hands several times during the faliawing centuries as it feil ta the Byzantines, Arabs, Seijuks, Crusaders, Danishmends, Hkbanids, and finaliy the

Ottomans. Dunng the unification and ısiamification of Anatolia, Kayseri became the center af a new cultural synthesis. Most of the monuments standing in the city today date ta the / 3th and 1 4th centuries and are fine exampies of pre Ottoman architecture. Today Kayseri is a madem city with a developing industriai sector that inciudes textiles, sugar production, and aircraft repair facilities.

Our joumey thraugh Kayseri begins at Cumhuriyet Square in the park named after the famous Ottoman architect Sinan. Our first stop is the fortress of Kayseri overlooking the Square. The original walis of the for-t are thought ta be Roman, and the north walis from the early Byzantine penod. The interior and exterior of the fort were repaired during the Seijuk ruler Alaeddin Keykubad’s time, but none of the exterior sectians of the fort exist. The interiar fortress is stili a colorful marketplace fuli af shops and push-cart peddlers.

Markets have piayed an important role in Kayseh’s histary and today the city stili has several bazaars. in the covered marketpiace of Kayseri one can find a spiendid array of items, from perfumes and dog leashes ta carpets and capperware. The merchants cal out ta potential customers ta bak at their seiection of copper ewers and jugs. Those shapping for unique comestibles shauid try the 20 different types af pastırma and the speciai Kayseri sweet, aside.

Leaving the heady atmosphere of the cavered market, we make our way ta the Huand Hatun Compiex acrass fram the fort. This compiex, campnsed of a mosque, rehgious school or medrese, tomb and bath is a masterpiece af Seijuk architecture . it was buiit for Mahpen Huand Hatun, the wife af Aiaeddin Keykubad and was compieted in 1238. The addition of an octagonai tomb detracts from the symmetry of the campiex, but with its perfectiy cut stone walis and the massive towers that surraund it, it is an impressive structure. The medrese is now a Turkish-isiamic art museum in which there is alsa a vanety of ethnagraphic matenal.

Ta the narth af Cumhuriyet Square is the Sahibiye Medrese buiit in 1267 by Fahrettin Sahip Ata, the son of the Se/juk Vizier Hüseyin. Narth af the Sahibiye Medrese is the Kurşunlu Mosque. Buiit in the late 1 6th century its name, Kurşunlu, or iead-covered” indicates that its domes were cavered with this matenal.

The narraw streets ta the narth of

Kurşunlu Mosque take us to the Çifte Medrese and Şifaiye, two Seijuk structures built by Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev and his sister Gevher Nesibe Hatun. Erciyes University has renovated this ancient Seijuk medical complex and it now serves as a medical museum.

We now continue to the Düvenönü Square to explore the Great Mosque of Kayseri that was built in the 1 2th century by the Danishmends, The interior prayer niche is from the Kölük Mosque of Kaysen and contains some of the best Seljuk tilework in existence.

An unusual tomb in Kayseb is the Döner or revolving tomb” built in 1276 for Shah Cihan Hatun. Constructed of cut stone, it is a twelve-sided structure with a conicaliy shaped cap on the

exterior but a circular and domed interior plan. Beautiful stone reliefs of mythical animals and the tree of life decorate the tomb’s facade. With its contrasting interior and exterior plans, the Döner Tomb does seem to be tuming.

To the left of the Döner Tomb in the Gültepe district stands the Archaeological Museum. Here we can see antiquities from the Assyrian, Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods of the city’s rich history.

The history of Kayseri is a rich tapestry of diverse cultures. To really get a sense of the city, after visiting the historical monuments, wander about the intimate streets of the old quarters where stone and wooden houses preserve the ambiance of days gone by.

KAYSERİ’NİN ÜNLÜ PASTIRMASI

The Famous Pastırma of

Kayseri

T he fame of Kayseri pastırrna stretches across the Anatolian plains and through the egends of Turkish history. The nomadic ancestors of the Ottomans first brought this delicacy to Kayseri and today past is stili a favorite throughout the country. The 1 7th century Ottoman traveier, Evliya Çelebi, enthusiasticaliy praised Kayseris veal and cummin pastırma in his famous Seyahatname.

Pastırma is made generaiy from veal. The quality of the meat used deterrnines the grade of the pastırma. Extra quaiity pastırnıa, the fınest availabie, comes from the sides of the backbone and back Pastırrna made from

the shouider,

neck and taii are first quahty. Second quality pastırrna is made from the tongue, testicies, head, leg or breast meat.

Preparing pastırrna takes about a month. The meat is aiiowed to sit for approximateiy eight hours and then saited on one side. it is then stacked and ieft for a day. The foiowing day the other side is saited and ieft from three to ten days. Any excess salt is removed.

Once the pastırma has dhed, the meat is treated with çemen, a spicy mixture made from parsley, garfic, red peppers and water. Çemen is often eaten as an appetizer and can found in butcher shops and most spice markets.

The meat is ieft in çemen from i 0 to 48 hours depending on the temperature, and then ieft to dry again. The darker the meat, the ionger it has been ieft to

age. The pastırrna is now ready. Bon appetit!