Burdur

Burdur
Municipality
Namık Kemal Avenue in central Burdur
Burdur
Coordinates: 37°43′00″N 30°17′00″E / 37.71667°N 30.28333°E / 37.71667; 30.28333Coordinates: 37°43′00″N 30°17′00″E / 37.71667°N 30.28333°E / 37.71667; 30.28333
Country	Turkey
Province	Burdur
Government
• Mayor	Ali Orkun Ercengiz (CHP)
Area
• District	1,450.98 km2 (560.23 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Urban	72,377
• District	96,816
• District density	67/km2 (170/sq mi)
Website	www.burdur-bld.gov.tr

Burdur is a city southwestern Turkey and the seat of the Burdur Province of Turkey. It is located at 37°43′13″N 30°17′27″E / 37.7202778°N 30.2908333°E / 37.7202778; 30.2908333, on the shore of Lake Burdur. Its estimated 2010 population is 78,389.

Whilst there is evidence of habitation in the province dating back to 6500 BC, the earliest sign of habitation in the city itself dates to Early Bronze Age. Artifacts from this period have been found in the site of today's railway station. In antiquity, the area was part of the region of Pisidia. It has been proposed that the city of Burdur has changed location a number of times; the ancient city of Limnombria ("Lake City") was closer to Lake Burdur than the modern city. It is known that in the Byzantine era, the city existed with the name Polydorion (Greek: Πολυδώριον), from which the current name is derived. No remains of Polydorion survive to this day.

The history of the urban development of Burdur is generally held to begin with the Turkish settlement after the Seljuq victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. In the late 11th century, the Kınalı tribe of the Oghuz Turks captured the Burdur area and settled there. Turks became the majority of the population of the area after 1211, establishing a number of villages in addition to expanding the town. The first Turkish settlement was in an area known as Hamam Bendi that had a lower elevation than today's city but was farther to the lake than the ancient town of Limnombria. These residents used the site of today's Grand Mosque of Burdur as an open marketplace, known as Alanpazarı. Realising the high incidence of malaria in the area they had settled, these residents then moved uphill, away from the lake. These first residents had not submitted to any state, but Kilij Arslan II, the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, captured the area in 1177 and imposed his sovereignty over the local tribes. The town remained under the undisputed sovereignty of the Sultanate of Rum between 1206 and 1260, when it was captured by the Mongol Empire. Developing commerce in the port of Antalya increased the significance of Burdur as a centre of commerce. Tragacanth obtained from the mountains of Psidia, wine from Kütahya, wax, wood and tar from many parts of Anatolia passed through Burdur, in exchange of which Egyptian spices, cotton and sugar was traded.