Göle

Göle
Göle
Coordinates: TR 40°47′34″N 42°36′31″E / 40.79278°N 42.60861°E / 40.79278; 42.60861Coordinates: TR 40°47′34″N 42°36′31″E / 40.79278°N 42.60861°E / 40.79278; 42.60861
Country	Turkey
Province	Ardahan
Government
• Mayor	Akın İsmailoğlu (AKP)
• Kaymakam	Fatih özdemir
Area[1]
• District	1,399.88 km2 (540.50 sq mi)
Population (2012)[2]
• Urban	7,359
• District	29,968
• District density	21/km2 (55/sq mi)
Post code	75700
Website	www.gole.bel.tr

Göle (Georgian: კოლა K'ola, in Kurdish Mêrdînik) is a small city and surrounding district in Ardahan Province of Turkey. The city was formerly known as Merdenik, Merdinik or Ardahan-ı Küçük ("Little Ardahan" in Ottoman Turkish).

Göle is a rural district, eighty per cent of the area comprising mountain and forest, with the remainder grazing land and meadow; the local economy depends on this grazing. Göle is famous for its yellow kaşar cheese. Some crops are grown, including grains and potatoes. With the high Allahuekber mountains to the south Göle is exposed to the north; winters are eight months long and extremely cold (minus 30 Celsius is quite normal), summer is one month of dry weather.

History

The name comes from Kola (კოლა, Georgian)- the name of a historical province in Georgia. The name of the ancient kingdom of Colchis may be derived from name of this place. Part of the Ottoman Empire from 1561, Göle was occupied by the Russian Empire from 1878 until the end of the First World War, when it was part of the militarily administered Kars Oblast. The district included villages inhabited by various ethnic groups, including 40 Kurdish and 7 Turkish villages with a significant minority of Armenians, and Caucasus Greeks. It finally became part of the Republic of Turkey on September 30, 1920 after the Armenian occupation between 1919-1920.

Places of interest to visitors include the tomb and mosque in the village of Dedeşen and the castles of Kalecik and Ugurtaşı.

Accommodation

There are several hotels in the town.

Villages of the district

The old names of the villages are noted after in parentheses.

References

Göle in Ardahan Province of Turkey Districts Ardahan Çıldır Damal Göle Hanak Posof List of Provinces by Region Istanbul Istanbul West Marmara Balıkesir Çanakkale Edirne Kırklareli Tekirdağ Aegean Afyonkarahisar Aydın Denizli İzmir Kütahya Manisa Muğla Uşak East Marmara Bilecik Bolu Bursa Düzce Eskişehir Kocaeli Sakarya Yalova West Anatolia Ankara Karaman Konya Mediterranean Adana Antalya Burdur Hatay Isparta Kahramanmaraş Mersin Osmaniye Central Anatolia Aksaray Kayseri Kırıkkale Kırşehir Nevşehir Niğde Sivas Yozgat West Black Sea Amasya Bartın Çankırı Çorum Karabük Kastamonu Samsun Sinop Tokat Zonguldak East Black Sea Artvin Giresun Gümüşhane Ordu Rize Trabzon Northeast Anatolia Ağrı Ardahan Bayburt Erzincan Erzurum Iğdır Kars Central East Anatolia Bingöl Bitlis Elazığ Hakkâri Malatya Muş Tunceli Van Southeast Anatolia Adıyaman Batman Diyarbakır Gaziantep Kilis Mardin Siirt Şanlıurfa Şırnak Metropolitan municipalities are bolded.