Pylae
| Yalova | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 Yalova
|
|
| Coordinates: 40°39′20″N 29°16′30″E / 40.65556°N 29.27500°ECoordinates: 40°39′20″N 29°16′30″E / 40.65556°N 29.27500°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Yalova |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Vefa Salman, CHP |
| Area | |
| • District | 166.85 km2 (64.42 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 30 m (100 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Urban | 102,874 |
| • District | 121,479 |
| • District density | 730/km2 (1,900/sq mi) |
| Website | www.yalova.bel.tr |
Yalova is a city located in northwestern Turkey, near the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. Yalova has a city population of 100,863, while the population of the Yalova Province is 118,998. as of 2011[update]. Currently there is a controversy around the municipal election results in Yalova especially after the Supreme Election Board invalidated the 2014 Municipal Election results on April 24, 2014 after a few recounts that changed results.
In general, it is assumed that the name "Yalova" comes from "Yalıova" "Yalı" which means "house at the coast" while "ova" means plain in Turkish.
The first settlement in the region dates back to the Prehistoric Period, in around 3000 BC (reference is needed). The Hittites ruled the region in the 21st century BC, followed by the Phrygians in the 13th century BC, and thereafter by the Greeks in the archaic, classical and Hellenistic eras. The region was conquered by the Romans in 74 BC. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was part of the Byzantine Empire.
In Antiquity and for most of the Middle Ages, the town was known as Pylae or Pylai (Greek: Πύλαι), in Bithynia, which is Greek for "gates", as it was at the start of one of the main routes leading into Asia for whomever crossed the Sea of Marmara from Europe.
In the Byzantine period the town remained of some importance due to its geographic location, and emperors frequently used it as a disembarkation point from Constantinople. Thus Emperor Heraclius landed here in 622, at the beginning of his counter-offensive against the Persians, and Romanos IV Diogenes did the same in 1071, on his way to the Battle of Manzikert. In the 9th century, the town was also the site of one of the beacons that transmitted news from the frontier with the Abbasid Caliphate, and included an imperial hostel for travellers. In the late 10th century, however, Leo of Synada described Pylae as little more than a village, where cattle, horses, pigs and other animals were gathered to be shipped to Constantinople.
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Wikipedia