HISTORY OF ZILE AND TOKAT

with photos
This document was prepared by
Zile Istiklal zen Primary School
for the Comenius School Partnership called
United Europe is in our eYes
2012-2014
"This project has been funded with support from the Lifelong Learning
Programme of the the European Commission. This document reflects the views
only of the authors. So the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained there in."
ZILE CASTLE
The castle of Zile is a historical
castle. In his book Geographica,
Strabo claimed that Zela was
founded by Semiramis, a
legendary Assyrian queen.
Later, the castle was built by
Roman commander Lucius
Cornelius Sulla, and it contained
the Amanos temple, and was
called Silla, meaning
"respected". In this regard, it is
claimed that the name "Zile"
came from "Zela", stemming
from "Silla". Zile is also the place
where Julius Caesar sent his
famous message to the Roman
Senate: "Veni Vidi Vici", meaning
"I came, I saw, I conquered".
MAAT HYK (TAPIGGA), ZILE
Maat Hyk is a Bronze
Age (14th century BC) Hittite
archaeological site 100 km
nearly east of Hattusa (the
capital of Hittite), about 15
km south-west of Zile. It was
first excavated in the 1970s.
Cuneiform tablets from the
site form a new archive of
Hittite texts. Most tablets
here are correspondence
between the site and the
Hittite king Tudhaliya III.
One place-name mentioned
in the texts is
Tabigga/Tabikka, which is
now generally considered to
be the Hittite name of the
Maat Hyk site.
Hittite Ruins of nearly 3500 years ago in Zile
INSCRIPTION I, ZILE
Imp(eratori) Caes(ari)
Caio Aur(elio) Val(erio)
Diocletiano
Pio Fel(ici) Inv(icto) Augusto
[et Imp(eratori) Caes]ar(i)
Marc(o) Aur(elio)
Maximiano
Pio Fel(ici) Inv(icto) Aug(usto)
Et Flav(io) Val(erio)
Constantio
Et Valer(io) Galer(io)
Maximiano
[Nob]ilissimis
Caesaribus
Civ(itas) Zel(itanorum)
Aur(elius) Priscianus
V(ir) P(erfectissimus) Praes(es) Prov(inciae)
Pont(i)
[D(evotus) N(umini) M(aiestate) Q(ue)] Eorum
Dated back to 284-305 BC during the reign of
Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus
INSCRIPTION II, ZILE
Imp(erator)

Caesar
M(arcus) Aur(elius) Severus
[ALEXANDER]
Pius Felix In -
- victus Aug(ustus)
Pont(ifex) Max(imus) Trib(unicia)
Potestas Co(n)s(ul)
P(ater) P(atriae) Proco(n)s(ul)
Per Q(uintum) Iul(ium) Procule -
- ianum Leg(atum) Pr(o)
Pr(aetorem) Mil(ia) I
(Civitas) Zelit(anorum)
Dated back to 222-235 BC, during the reign of
Marcus Aurelius Severus.
GREAT MOSQUE, ZILE
The mosque was firstly built by Seljuk
Turks during the reign of Kayhusraw III,
the son of Kilij Arslan IV in 1267. Then
the mosque was restored by Nasuh Bey
in 17th century. When an earthquake
occured in the beginning of the 20th
century, the mosque was reconstructed
by Necmeddin Bey in 1909.
BOYACI HASAN AA MOSQUE AND SCHOOL, ZILE
The mosque and school were built in 1479 during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror.
TURKISH BATHS IN ZILE
The entity of three Turkish baths are approved by Evliya elebi in 1649. In later
periods, possibly between 17th-19th centuries, the number of hamams were
increased from 3 to 5 in Zile.
EHR HAMAMI, ZILE
ehir Hamam, also called Taceddin Hamam, was built in 1494 by Taceddin Ibrahim.
The hamam was also mentioned in the book of Evliya elebi in 17th century.
TEKKE HAMAMI, ZILE
A few resources claim that Tekke Hamam might be built in 14th century, but it is not
certain. However, the entity of Tekke Hamam was mentioned in the book of Evliya
elebi, which was written in 17th century.
YEN HAMAM, ZILE
It was possibly built in 17th century. The
hamam is also famous for its bird house
constructed on the wall.
KK HAMAM
IIK HAMAMI
Today, both Kk Hamam and
Ik Hamam are unfortunately
in ruins.
Both hamams are situated on
the narrow and historical
streets of Zile.
EYH NUSREDDIN ZAWIYA, ZILE
Three inscriptions of endowments
dated back to 1353, 1368 and 1389.
The zawiya is an Islamic religious
school. It was founded by eyh
Nusreddin, the disciple, follower and
student of Khoca Ahmad Yasawi, a
Turkic poet and sufi from Turkestan in
11th century.
ELBAOLU MOSQUE
It was built by Elbaolu Ahmed Aa in 1801 during the period of Ottoman Turks.
TRADITIONAL HOUSES, ZILE
TRADITIONAL LIFE, ZILE
ZILE IN 1905
ZILE IN 1909
This photo displays the bazaar,
Uzun ar, in Zile. The photo was
of 1909.
ZILE IN 1920
LATIFOLU MANSION, TOKAT
It has the features of 19th century architecture of Turkish traditional houses.
MEVLEVIHANE, TOKAT
It was built in 1638 during the reign of Sultan Ahmed.
ATATRKS HOUSE, TOKAT
This traditional house hosted Atatrk,
the founder of the Republic of Turkey,
for several times when he visited the
province of Tokat.
CLOCK TOWER, TOKAT
It was built in 1902 during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II.
GK MADRASA, TOKAT
It was built in 1277 by Seljuk Turks, who started to settle in Turkey after 1071.
The building was also used as a hospital and educational institution in the past.
TA HAN, TOKAT
It was built in 1631 by Ottoman Turks.
ALI PASHA MOSQUE, TOKAT
The mosque was built in 1572 by Ottoman Turks during the reign of Selim II.
ALI PASHA HAMAM, TOKAT
It was built in 1572 by Ottoman Turks during the reign of Selim II.
TOKAT CASTLE
Possibly, the castle of Tokat was built in 5th century.
MAHPERI HATUN CARAVANSARY
The caravansary was built in 1238 by Seljuk Turks. It takes its name from Mahperi
Hatun, who was the wife of Kayqubad I and built this caravansary for the merchants.
YAIBASAN MADRASA
It was one of the first traditional schools in Turkey dated to the period of Seljuk Turks.
It was built by Yabasan, the governor of Danishmend Turkmens in 1157.
YAZMACILAR HANI
Yazmaclar Han is dated back to the late 19th century, built by Ottoman Turks.
The two storey in was built of wood, sun-dried bricks and cut stones. It was constructed
to provide a place where traditional hand-painted yazmas are produced and sold.
TOKAT BEDESTENI
It was a covered Turkish bazaar, which was built by Ottoman Turks in Tokat during the
15th century. It is now used as the museum of Tokat.
SMBL BABA ZAWIYA, TOKAT
It was built by Hac Smbl in 1267 during the reign of Seljuk Turks.
Zawiyas were religious schools at that period.
MEYDAN MOSQUE AND HATUNIYE MADRASA, TOKAT
Both the mosque and madrasah
(another educational institution like
Gk Madrasa and Yabasan
Madrasa) were built in 16th century
by Ottoman Turks.
SULU HAN, TOKAT
It is an aevi (public soup-kitchen), which was built by Ottoman Turks. An aevi is the a
place where food is offered to the hungry for free. Today, it is still used as a soup kitchen.
PAA HANI, TOKAT
It was built by Mehmed Paa in 1752, who governed the province of Sivas and Trabzon.
DEVECILER HANI, TOKAT
It was built by Ottoman Turks in 15th century.
ESENTIMUR, TOKAT
It was built in 1313 for Esentimur olu Nureddin, a commander.
ALI TUSI TOMB, TOKAT
It was built in 1233 for Ali Tusi, a statesman during the period of Seljuk Turks.
HALEF SULTAN ZAWIYA, TOKAT
It was built in 1292 during the period of Seljuk Turks. It was used as a zawiya (religious school).