History of Nevşehir

Nevşehir and its vicinity have a historical history of about five thousand years. The first inhabitants of the region were the Hittites, who gave the name "Nissa" to this area. After the Hittites, the Phrygians and Lydians dominated the region. The Assyrians named the region "Katputuka" in reference to Cappadocia. In the 6th century BC, the Persians conquered this area, and in the 4th century BC, the Macedonian King Alexander the Great eliminated the Persian state, bringing Anatolia and Iran under the rule of the Macedonian Kingdom. After Alexander's death and the dissolution of the Macedonian Empire, the region came under the control of the Cappadocian Kingdom. When the Roman Empire annexed the Cappadocian Kingdom, this region also came under the rule of the Roman Empire. Following the division of the Roman Empire in AD 395, like other regions of Anatolia, it became part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. In the 8th century, Islamic armies conquered this region, which lies within the triangle of Niğde-Aksaray-Kayseri, and ruled it for 300 years. When the Islamic State weakened due to internal rebellion and separatist activities, the region fell back into the hands of the Byzantines. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Anatolian conqueror Kutalmışoğlu Süleyman Şah also conquered this region, like all of Anatolia. The Turks gave this village the name "Muşkara." After the collapse of the Seljuk Empire, the Ilkhanids, Eratnaoğulları, and Karamanoğulları came to dominate the region in the mid-14th century. At the end of the fourteenth century, Nevşehir and its surroundings came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. At this time, "Muşkara" village was a settlement of 10-12 households. Damat İbrahim Paşa, the grand vizier of the Tulip period (1718-1730), expanded and developed the village of "Muşkara." The newly established city was given the name "Nevşehir," which means "new city," and was attached to the Niğde Sanjak as a district. During the Republic period, it was part of the Niğde province, but on July 20, 1954, it became a province through Law No. 6429.