Espiye
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Espiye, Turkey |
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| Map | |
 Location in Giresun Province, Turkey. |
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| Overview | |
| Province | Giresun |
| Total Population | town: 12,990 - total: 30,567 [] (2000) |
| Area | 230 km² |
| Population density | 133/km² |
| Elevation | 0 - 2850 m |
| Coordinates | 12,990 - total: 30,567) 40°54′ N 38°25′ E |
| Postal code | 28xxx |
| Area code | (+90) 454 |
| Licence plate code | 28 |
| Mayor | Erol Karadere (Justice and Development Party) |
| Website | Espiye Municipality |
Espiye is a district of Giresun Province, Turkey.
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[edit] History
There is very limited information about the ancient history of Espiye. At the time of 626 (BC) the ancient Andoz Castle did exist just on the west side of todays town. Andoz was a sister castle of Tripolis (called Tirebolu in Turkish today) and Bedrama (or Bedrum) castles in the Harşit, is a small town in the southeast of Tirebolu, the neighbour town of Espiye on the East. Since it is known from the Naturalis Historia (Natural History) by Plinius who lived in 1st Century that Tripolis, (today called Tirebolu) has been built by Miletoses, so the first people who lived in Espiye was the Miletoses. In the same source it is written that Miletoses has built nearly 90 cities in the Black Sea region of present-day Turkey.
In his Anabasis, Greek writer Xenophon (431–360 BC) from Athens wrote that Colchians, Drilaes, Habibs and Tiberians had been living in the eastern parts of Black Sea region during 400s (BC). Among them Drils have been assumed as a brach of Turkic tribes. In his "Kıpçaklar (pronounced as Kipchaks)" book of Prof Fahrettin Kızıloğlu claimed that Drilaes were a branch of the Kipchaks Turks inherited from Cimmerians. Even it is claimed that the name of Tirebolu originates from "Diribolu" meaning "the city of Drilaes". From the allegations above since Espiye was a subdibrict area in Tirebolu, the first inhabitants of Espiye were the Drills.
After Drils and Miletoses Espiye was dominated by Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire and Empire of Trebizond respectively, and by Ottoman Empire finally. When the Crusedars captured Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) in 1204 Byzantine Emperor Alexios escaped to Trabzon (formerly Trebizond) and established a new empire called Empire of Trebizond. Then Espiye was in the territory of this empire.
In 12th and 16th Centuries, Chepni (pronounced as chep-nee in Eng) branch of Turks came to Kürtün (a district and town in the Gümüşhane province today) located in the south of Espiye. The Chepni was a branch of Oghuz Turks inheriting from Günhan who was one of three sons of Oghuz Khan. Chepnis were the relatives of Bayindir, Pechene, Chavuldur, Salur, Eymur and Alayuntlu, branches of Üçoklar (Uechooks) originated from Günhan. After a couple of centuries following their migration to the area, Chepnis established a "beylik" (a kind of principality in old Turkish) named "Haci Emirli" in Mesudiye district, today located in Ordu, province in the west of Giresun. At that time, while the Greeks were living in the coastal zone of Black Sea area, the Turks were living in the mountainous area, and so they were battling against each other time to time. The Chepni Principality had a powerful cavalry corps that consisting of ten thousand horses, and they were winning the battles generally. Therefore, Chepnis has captured many districts in coastal zones too. In the time of Suleyman Bey, was one of the commander presidents of the Haci Emirli Principality attacked to Greek armies of Trebizond in 1397, and after many battles he conquered Giresun city under Greeks control till this date. With this victory Turks got the control in coastal zone and Suleyman Bey was called as "Giresun Conqueror" among the Chepnis to offer their respects to their victorian principal. After many hard battles Giresun became an administrative part of Haci Emirli Principality but its subdisrict Espiye was still in the border of Greek Empire of Trebizond.
Sixty four years later after the Giresun battle between Hacı Emirli and Greek Empire of Trebizond, the Emperor Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Conqueror Mehmed) of Ottoman Empire decided to capture Trabzon to control the northeast end of the empire, and went to a military expedition against Greek Empire of Trebizond in 1461. After a short term war, all area along the Black Sea's south coast has been demonitated by Ottoman Empire. During the Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmed II)'s expedition to Trabzon, since Chepnis helped the Ottomans by providing logistics services, he gave the control of the lands of Giresun and Ordu encapsulating Espiye to the Chepnis. Moreover, as a gift due to their helps during the war he also excepted them not to pay the taxes to the Ottomans.
According to the Ottomans registries dated back to 1515 "Espiye" was a very small village consisting of 16 houses plus 6 houses in the Andoz Castle. From these records it could be estimated that the population of Espiye was 80-100 inhabitants in 1500s. If this number can be considered as a nucleus population for a town, Espiye is 480-500 years old. But the Andoz Castle is older than Espiye although it was not used a civil settlement because it was very narrow to live because of a length of 90 feet and a width of 20 feet. So the Andoz Castle next to Espiye town was an inpection point to observe the sea for war ships.
In both of Empire of Trebizond and Ottoman Empire eras Espiye was a subdistrict under Trabzon and Tirebolu in provincial and district level of administration, respectively. After the foundation of Republic of Turkey in 1923, Espiye was still a subdisrict of Tirebolu in Giresun Province according to new Turkish administrative system. But in 1957 it became a district administration itself with a legistlation issued in 1957.
[edit] Etymology
The people who lived in Espiye district in ancient eras did not know where they were living. In other words, the small plain area between two rivers, named as Yaglidere and Gelevera today was not called with a certain name due to it was a slient area in the ancient times. The "Espiye" word was firstly used by the Turks when they come to this area in the 12th Century.
In the written documents, the word "Espiye" was used as "Esbüyeli" in the Ottomans essays in 1515 for the first time. In the Ottomans Land Registry Book, Espiye has been defined as "Çepni Eli" (means "Chepni Province" or "Chepni's Homeland" in Turkish) and registered as a feudal tenure for "Mustafa Bey" who was a son of Eshter Bey ("Eşter Oğlu Mustafa Bey Zeameti" in Turkish). According to some historians, the Espiye is a derivative name forming from two parts: "Esb" + "Yeli, Yelü" or "Yalı" words. The "esb" as a Persian word means "horse". Turkish "-yeli" and "-yelü" suffixes mean "from, of" in order to define the things that are "originated from a certain place". "yalı" as aradix or generic word means "shore" or "waterside" in Turkish. So, Espiye means "the land of horses" or "horse barn". Secondly, it means "the horses raired in waterside".
[edit] Geography and Climate
Espiye has typical characteristics of the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey both in topography and climate. The district topography is almost uneven (mountainous) area covered mainly with dense forests and arable hazelnuts cultivations. Espiye, carrying the same name of district is placed on a small plain between Yağlıdere and Gelevara streams flows upto Black Sea. Just after 2 km away of the town center the altitude sharply begins to increase toward the south border of the district. The highest point of the district is Akılbaba Tepesi (Akılbaba Hill) of Giresun Dağları (Giresun Mountains Chain) adjacent to district of Giresun in the south.
Espiye has nearly 230 km² land area. The district is adjacent to Tirebolu and Güce in the east, Keşap and Yağlıdere in the west, Alucra and Şebinkarahisar in the south. The north of the district is surrounded by Black Sea. Espiye town is 28 km away from Giresun city, the provincial capital, and arrived via Samsun-Trabzon highway.
The climate is generally rainy almost all the seasons. It is cool and rainy in Summer; and warm and rainy in Winter in the coastal zones but snowy in the mountainous area in the south. Espiye is one the districts which have large forests consisting of pines, firs, spruces, chestnuts, oaks, hornbeams, rodedendrons, beeches and alders. The arable area, mainly in coastal zone (till 20-30 km distance from Espiye town) is densely planted with hazelnut trees and a some hectares of tea trees.
[edit] External links
- Espiye Kaymakamlığı (Espiye Govermental District Administration)
- Espiye Photo Gallery by Espiye Municipality
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Districts of Giresun |  |
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Giresun | Alucra | Bulancak | Çamoluk | Çanakçı | Dereli | Doğankent | Espiye | Eynesil | Görele | Güce | Keşap | Piraziz | Şebinkarahisar | Tirebolu | Yağlıdere |
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