Gevaş

Gevaş
Gevaş
Coordinates: 38°17′52″N 43°06′20″E / 38.29778°N 43.10556°ECoordinates: 38°17′52″N 43°06′20″E / 38.29778°N 43.10556°E
Country  Turkey
Province Van
Government
 • Mayor Sinan Hakan (AKP)
 • Kaymakam Yusuf Güni
Area[1]
 • District 968.00 km2 (373.75 sq mi)
Population (2012)[2]
 • Urban 11,028
 • District 29,215
 • District density 30/km2 (78/sq mi)
Post code 65700
Website www.gevas.bel.tr

Gevaş (Armenian: Ոստան, Vostan, meaning "[princely] court";[3] Kurdish: Westan) is a district of Van Province of Turkey. The mayor is Sinan Hakan (AKP). It is located on the south shore of Lake Van.

Historically, Gevaş was for some time the main town of the Armenian kingdom of Vaspurakan and later between the 14th and 15th centuries the centre of a small Kurdish emirate. In their time the settlement had moved nearer to the lake.[3] Later the town was incorporated in the Ottoman Empire. Before World War I the district had a Muslim majority with a large Christian Armenian minority.

Main sights include: some surviving ruins of the castle, the monumental tomb known as Halime Hatun Kümbeti, build in 1358, verily likely for the daughter of a local emir.[3] A mosque build before 1446 (restoration in that year) and the tomb of Sheikh Ibrahim, father of Halime Hatun.[3] The ruins of an Armenian church in Ili, probably built after 941 and an Armenian Church/monastery on Kusadasi island west of Akdamar Island.[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gevaş.
  1. ↑ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  2. ↑ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Sinclair, T.A. (1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. Pindar Press. pp. 222–223. ISBN 9780907132325.