SAPANCA

Sapanca is a charming green town surrounded by Sapanca Lake in the north, Adapazarı in the east, Samanlı Mountains, Geyve and Pamukova districts in the south and Kocaeli central district Izmit in the west. Sapanca Lake, which bears the same name as the district, is a tectonic freshwater lake. Due to the natural beauties of the district and the lake surroundings, visitors come especially from Istanbul and the surrounding cities to breathe and relax at the weekend.

The history of the district dates back to 1200 BC. With the arrival of the Anatolian Seljuks in Sapanca and its surroundings in 1075, the region began to be called Ayan and Ayanköy. After the Crusades, the region passed to the Byzantines again.

Evliya Çelebi, who passed through the town on his way to Erzurum in 1640, gives the following information about the town: “A village called Sabancı Koca was established because an old man from İzmit once cleared the forest and bushes here and plowed. Then, as time passed, it became a flourishing town and became a town during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. Sarı Rüstem Pasha built an inn with 170 hearths in the town. It has a beautiful mosque, hammam and bazaar. Imarets are covered with sky lead. There are about 1000 tiled houses. All of the soup kitchens are the structures of Mimar Sinan. Another work of Mimar Sinan is the Pertev Pasha inn. Since most of this charity work belongs to Rüstem Pasha, it is managed by the trustee of the foundation. There is a Janissary Serdar here. To be praised, its white cherry is famous. There is a baker’s shop at the bottom of the bath. With the blessing of a dervish’s blessing, he bakes a kind of white and unique bread loaf, which became famous all over the world with the name of the sabanca loaf. Even if it stays for forty days, it is not likely to dry out and lose its flavor. It is so famous that they took one of them to the Persian shah with a fresh grit, and he liked it too. Some say it is because of its water that it is such a delicious and unique bread.”

Sapanca’s historical buildings, where thousands of shades of green come together, also attract the attention of tourists. (Source: Wikipedia)

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