Land of our country’s foundation and liberation,
The City of many innovations,
The Capital of the Tile Art,
The City of ,Sultans,Sages and Artisans,
The Region of Spas,
The City of and Art….
Kütahya is located in the western hinterland of Anatolia-on the junction of upper Sakarya and South Marmara.Kütahya sits between Bursa to the northwest,Bilecik to the northeast,Eskişehir to the east,Afyonkarahisar to the southeast,Uşak to the South,Manisa to the southwest and Balıkesir to the west.The area covers 110875 kms.With an altitude of 1200m,Kütahya is between the Middle Anatolian basin and the Aegean Plains.It also has a range of mountains running northwest to the southeast. Mounts Türkmen, Murat, Şaphane, Eğrigöz and Akdağ and Örencik, Simav, Tavşanlı and Altıntaş plains define the region.Rivers and dams that irrigate the lands of Kütahya include: Enne, Söğüt, Kayaboğazı and Porsuk; Adırnaz, which reaches the Agean Sea.
HISTORY OF KUTAHYA
Kütahya was known as ‘’kotiaeion’’in ancient times.At different stages of its history it has been known as ‘’Kotiaion’’ ‘’Cotyaeium’’ and ‘’Cotyaium’’.According to the ancient geographer Strabon,this name means ‘’the city of Kotys’’.From the findings in Tavşanlı,Tunçbilek,Boyalık and Gevence we know the first settlers in Kütahya date back to the Catholic age.Findings in Altınbaş and Domaniç suggest that there were settlements during the Hittite era-in the First and Middle Bronze ages.The Phrygians,who came to the region along with other migrants from the Agean,became organized as a state in 800 B.C.The region,which was invaded by Kimmerians in 676B.C.,joined wth the Lydians lands,and was later conqured by Persians during the reign of Kyros the second (559-529 B.C).In 334 B.C the king of Macedonia Alexander the Great by defeating the Persians gained control of the region.With his death in 323 B.C,the control of Kütahya and its neighbouring areas changed hands between his generals.After a short time the region was settled by Galatians from Thrace and altuogh the kingdoms of Bithynia and Pergamon were regionally dominant it was seeded to Rome in 133 B.C.Remaining important as a bishopric during the reign of Constantine,Kütahya took its place in a province called Anatolicon during the Byzantine period.In 1075 Kutalmışoğlu Süleymanşah,who had founded the Antolian Seljuk State, conquered Kütahya. Invaded by the Crusaders in 1097,the region rejoined Byzantine lands.However it was taken under the dominion of Seljuks during the Alaeddin Keykubat period in 1277 as part of the last Anatolian Seljuk State.Kütahya and the neighbouring areas were taken by Germiyanoğulları and after the death of the last Germiyan Sultan,Yakup 1429,they joined with the Ottomans.Being a Sanjak belonging to the province of Hüdavendigar from 1876,Kütahya became an independent Sanjak after the second Constitutional Monarchy.After the First World War ,Kütahya was invaded by the Greeks on July 17,1921,and liberated on August 30,1922 as part of the’’ Great Advance’’started on August 26,1922,and was turned into a province in 1923.Today,with its developing industry,plentiful natural resources both above and below ground,its university,termal springs,handicrafts,and a rich history,Kütahya has significant tourism potential.It numbers amongst its districts: Altıntaş, Aslanapa, Çavdarhisar, Domaniç, Dumlupınar, Emet, Gediz, Pazarlar, Şaphane, Hisarcık, Simav and Tavşanlı.