Γεωγραφική Θέση western Asia Minor. Ιστορική Περιοχή Lydia. Διοικητική Υπαγωγή vilayet of Aydin, mutasarrıflık of Magnesia, kaymakamlık of Kirkağaç

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1 Περίληψη : City in the valley of the Kaikos River, 58 km NE of Magnesia, with a mixed population of Muslims, Orthodox, Armenians and some Jews, estimated at 20,000 people in the early 20 th century. The city was a key commercial and industrial centre in the area of Saruhan. Γεωγραφική Θέση western Asia Minor Ιστορική Περιοχή Lydia Διοικητική Υπαγωγή vilayet of Aydin, mutasarrıflık of Magnesia, kaymakamlık of Kirkağaç 1. Identity History Kırkağaç 1 was a little town with a mixed population, crossed by the public road Soma-Akşar-Magnisia and the railway line connecting Magnisia with Balıkesir and Bandırma. It was built at the foot of Mount Temnos (Çamlıca Dağ), in the valley of an affluent of the Kaikos River (Bakır Çay). Kırkağaç was 58 km NE of Magnisia and 88 km NE of Smyrna. There is no accurate information about the foundation of Kırkağaç. According to oral testimonies, it was founded around the 16 th century by a group of hodjas (Muslim scholars), who built a medrese (religious school) there. 2 When Chateaubriand 3 travelled from Paris to Jerusalem, he visited Kırkağaç on October 6, Although he stayed in the town for less than a day, he made complimentary remarks about the people, the culture and the exceptional products. He describes it as a rich and big city known all over the East for its top quality cotton and goes on saying that Kırkağaç was one of the cities considered sacred by the Turks, subjected to the great mosque of Constantinople. The pashas had no right to enter the city. 4 Towards the late 19 th century Georges Radet, an archaeologist and member of the French Archaeological School, visited the town during a tour of Asia Minor. He copied Greek and Latin inscriptions from houses of eminent Orthodox and Muslims and public buildings (churches, fountains) of Kırkağaç. Radet assumes that a specific inscription comes from the neighbouring ancient city of Thyateira (modern Akhisar, 25 km SE of Kırkağaç). 5 The Orthodox population of Kırkağaç was not expelled during the 1914 persecutions thanks to their good relations with the Muslims, who protected them from the unfriendly attitude of the fanatical Muslims of neighbouring settlements. More specifically, according to refugee informants, the mufti saved them in the 1914 persecutions as he chased the strangers out. 6 Kırkağaç had a mixed population including Orthodox, Turkish-speaking Muslims, Armenians and some Jews. The descent of Orthodox inhabitants is not absolutely confirmed: most of them had been there for several generations and only a number of them were from Mytilene, who had arrived to work in Kırkağaç after the fire that had struck the settlement in the second half of the 19 th century. 7 According to another version, most of the Orthodox were Lesbians and formed a Lesbian colony in Kırkağaç. 8 However, the following information is provided by an estimate made in 1905 for the population of Kırkağaç: Orthodox, 10,600 Muslims and 850 inhabitants of other doctrines. In the early 20 th century the Orthodox population was estimated at between 3500 and or even between and On the other hand, the Muslims were between 16, and 15, The figures provided change according to the source Society Economy Δημιουργήθηκε στις 28/9/2017 Σελίδα 1/5

2 Kırkağaç was the seat of the namesake kaymakamlık. It was further subjected to the mutasarrıflık of Magnisia and the vilayet of Aydin. In ecclesiastical terms it was under the diocese of Ephesus. The Greek community was managed by an Orthodox muhtar elected every four years through elections held at the community offices. Entitled to vote were those who had a tax certificate proving that they paid taxes of more than 100 kuruş for landed or other property. The elections appointed 4 members of the dimogerontia, 4 school ephors, 4 ecclesiastical ephors and 4 hospital ephors. The dimogerontia and the ecclesiastical committee appointed the muktar, whose election was validated by the court. The ecclesiastical committee also managed the ecclesiastical property. Each political party had a common list of candidates for the dimogerontia, the ecclesiastical committee and the school and hospital ephors. Kırkağaç was the most commercial town in the mutasarrıflık of Magnisia (Saruhan). The Orthodox element was particularly active in financial matters. They were farmers, while a number of them were craftsmen and shopkeepers. The town had several workshops and industries, such as flour mills, cotton gins and oil presses. Textile and silk workshops, confectioneries, pottery workshops and brick kilns as well as a cabinet-maker existed in Kırkağaç in the early 20 th century. There was also a factory of the carpet industrial company The Oriental Carpet Co, 16 which produced a special type of carpets known as Kırkağaç carpets. 17 The city overlooked a fertile and intensively farmed plain mainly producing cotton, which had been an important exportable product already from the early 18 th century. Apart from cotton, there were vineyards (producing sultana raisins), olive trees, wheat fields and market gardens. 18 Kırkağaç carried out commercial transactions with Constantinople and Smyrna, which absorbed its agricultural products (melons). 19 Every week the people of Kırkağaç would go to Smyrna markets, as they had to supply their city with goods intended for the nearby villages, which shopped from Kırkağaç (such as Bakır, 3 km SE, Kelebos, 16 km NE). Τhe main market place included all kinds of products grain, animals, garden produce and opened every Thursday accepting a crowd of people from nearby villages. Most of the houses were made of stone and were plastered; they had two or, more rarely, three floors and yards. Near the foot of the mountain were the Muslim quarter and the market, the houses of the Orthodox inhabitants in the plain and the Armenian quarter to the southeast. Within 10 minutes to the east, outside the city, was the railway station of the French railway company connecting Magnisia with Balıkesir and Bandırma. The parish church of Kırkağaç was dedicated to the Dormition. It was a large and newly built church, since it had been reconstructed around 1910 after the fire that had burned the city. In the meantime the religious services were held at the church of St. Anargyroi, within the same yard. Moreover, a small chapel dedicated to St. Panteleemon existed inside the hospital, 20 which also gave its name to the hospital. Beside the hospital, within the same yard as the churches, there were two independent buildings faced with marble, which accommodated a full six-grade primary boys school and a girls school; both were backed by the Orthodox community. Each student paid a different amount depending on the grade and the finances of the family. Τhe ecclesiastical committee received the school books from Smyrna and sold them to the students, while the poor students were given them free. In 1905 there were a sixgrade boys school with 4 teachers and 90 students, a five-grade girls school with 3 teachers and 70 students and a nursery school attended by 150 infants. The school budgets amounted to 130 Turkish liras for the boys school and 70 Turkish liras for the girls school. There were also 8 children studying at foreign schools. Anyone wishing to further continue their studies would attend the schools of Smyrna. 21 Between June 24, 1920 and August 6, 1922 Kırkağaç was occupied by Greece. When the Greek forces retreated, the Orthodox inhabitants left the town. The refugees settled in Mytilene, Thessaloniki, Nea Ionia of Volos and other places of Greece. 1. The word kırk in Turkish means forty and ağaç tree. Kırkağaç was the only name of the settlement and was used by both Muslim and Orthodox inhabitants. 2. Μεϊμαρίδης, Π., Κιρκαγάτς (Thessaloniki 1973), pp Δημιουργήθηκε στις 28/9/2017 Σελίδα 2/5

3 3. Chateaubriand, François-Auguste-René de: French Romantic writer and diplomat, among the greatest thinkers of France in the first half of the 19 th century ( ). 4. Chateaubriand, F.R. de, Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem 2 (Paris 1811), pp The information provided by Chateaubriand suggests that the settlement was a glebe of the great mosque of Constantinople (probably Hagia Sophia/Ayasofya), in the sense that the tax income from Kırkağaç was intended for financing operations conducted and services provided by the mosque. Τhis was accompanied by a privileged treatment the inhabitants of dedicated settlements enjoyed in tax and administrative matters, which is reflected in the information provided by the writer about the denial of admittance to pashas. 5. For the inscriptions found in Kırkağaç, see Radet, G., Inscriptions de Lydie, BCH 11 (1887), pp Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. Λδ 14, Kırkağaç. 7. Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. Λδ 14, Kırkağaç. The fire caused extensive damage. It started from the Muslim quarter and spread to the market and the Christian part of the town. 8. Αναγνωστοπούλου, Σ., Μικρά Ασία, 19ος αι Οι ελληνορθόδοξες κοινότητες. Από το Μιλλέτ των Ρωμιών στο Ελληνικό Έθνος (Athens 1997), tables. 9. Στατιστικός Πίναξ της Επαρχίας Εφέσου (έδρα Μαγνησίας), Ξενοφάνης 2 (Athens 1905), pp Μεϊμαρίδης, Π., Κιρκαγάτς (Thessaloniki 1973), p Κοντογιάννης, Π., Γεωγραφία της Μικράς Ασίας (Athens 1921), p Κιρκαγάτς, Μεγάλη Ελληνική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια «Πυρσός» 14 (Athens 1930), p Κοντογιάννης, Π., Γεωγραφία της Μικράς Ασίας (Athens 1921), p Κιρκαγάτς, Μεγάλη Ελληνική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια «Πυρσός» 14 (Athens 1930), p According to Αναγνωστοπούλου, Σ., Μικρά Ασία, 19ος αι Οι ελληνορθόδοξες κοινότητες. Από το Μιλλέτ των Ρωμιών στο Ελληνικό Έθνος (Athens 1997), tables, the town appears to include 18,000 Muslim and 2000 Orthodox inhabitants. There were 25 Orthodox families in the late 18 th century, 100 families between 1830 and 1840 and 300 families in From the late 19 th century the population started to gradually decline. Another oral testimony talks about a total population of 16,000 or 14,000, including 3500 Orthodox, 500 or 600 Armenians and some Muslims. There were also a few Jews. Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. Λδ 14, Kırkağaç. 16. The company The Oriental Carpet Co was based in Smyrna and had factories in several western Asia Minor cities. More than two hundred women worked at the factory of Kırkağaç. A considerably lower number of men were employed at the dyeworks and repaired the looms. 17. Σολδάτος, Χρ., Ο οικονομικός βίος των Ελλήνων της Δυτικής Μικράς Ασίας (Ιωνίας, Αιολίδας, Μυσίας, Βιθυνίας, Λυδίας και Καρίας) (Athens 1994), p See also quotation The melons of Kırkağaç. 19. White honey, which was extracted from cotton flowers, and madder (a herb growing in the valley of the Kaikos River, whose root was used for dyeing), were also traded. 20. See quotation Saint Panteleemon. 21. Στατιστικός Πίναξ της Επαρχίας Εφέσου (έδρα Μαγνησίας), Ξενοφάνης 2 (Athens 1905), pp Δημιουργήθηκε στις 28/9/2017 Σελίδα 3/5

4 Βιβλιογραφία : Κοντογιάννης Π., Γεωγραφία της Μικράς Ασίας. Φυσική σύστασις της χώρας, πολιτική γεωγραφία, φυσικός πλούτος, Αθήναι 1921 Αναγνωστοπούλου Σ., Μικρά Ασία, 19ος αι Οι Eλληνορθόδοξες Κοινότητες. Aπό το Μιλλέτ των Ρωμιών στο Ελληνικό Έθνος, Ελληνικά Γράμματα, Αθήνα 1997 Σολδάτος Χ., Ο οικονομικός βίος των Ελλήνων της Δυτικής Μικράς Ασίας (Ιωνίας, Αιολίδας, Μυσίας, Βιθυνίας, Λυδίας και Καρίας) , Αθήνα 1994 Μεϊμαρίδης Π., Κιρκαγάτς, Θεσσαλονίκη 1973 Γλωσσάριo : dimogerontia Communal authority consisting of the elected community officials, known as archontes (potentates), proestoi (notables), epitropoi (wardens), dimogerontes or simply gerontes (elders). kaymakamlık Ottoman administrative unit that replaced the kaza during the late Ottoman Period, after the administrative reforms of müfti A specialist on the interpretation of the Islamic sacred law. He comments on matters of religious law by issuing fetvahs. muhtar Elected communal official, head of a quarter or a village community. mutasarrıflık A medium-sized Ottoman administrative unit that replaced the sancak during the Late Ottoman Period, after the administrative reforms of vilayet (valilik) The larger administrative unit in the Ottoman provincial administration system. The large provinces of the Ottoman Empire were previously called eyalet. The new regulation of 1864 introduced the vilayet as an equivalent of the French départment - albeit of smaller size. The governor of the vilayet was called vali and had extensive authority. Πηγές Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. Λδ 14, Kırkağaç. Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. ΣΕ 8 (modern settlement). Chateaubriand, F.R. de, Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem 2 (Paris 1811). Radet, G., Inscriptions de Lydie, BCH 11 (1887), pp «Στατιστικός Πίναξ της Επαρχίας Εφέσου (έδρα Μαγνησίας)», Ξενοφάνης 2 (Athens 1905), pp Παραθέματα Τhe melons of Kirkağaç The melons of Kirkağaç were famous, as evidenced by the following saying provided by refugees: Δημιουργήθηκε στις 28/9/2017 Σελίδα 4/5

5 ʺThe cheese of Pergamos, is like halvah from Soma, the melons of Kirkağaç, are like yogurt from Mainemeni. Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. Λδ 14, Kirkağaç. Saint Panteleemon Του Αγίου Παντελεήμονος γινότανε μεγάλη εορτή. Η λειτουργία γινότανε στην Κοίμηση και συνέχεια πηγαίναμε στον Άγιο Παντελεήμονα όπου γινόταν η παράκληση. Όλος ο κόσμος μετά ήθελε να καθήσει, να του δώσουν κόλλυβα, καφέ και μετά να φύγει. Το βράδυ γινότανε εσπερινός. Επειδή της Παναγίας ο κόσμος ήταν στις δουλειές του αποφασίζαμε και κάναμε πανηγύρι των Αγίων Αναργύρων. Δεν έπιασε όμως. Ξένος κόσμος δεν ερχόταν. Μόνοι μας είμαστε στην εκκλησία, μόνοι στα καταστήματα. Κι έτσι σιγά σιγά έπαψε να γίνεται. Αρχείο Προφορικής Παράδοσης Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών, dos. Λδ 14, Kirkağaç Δημιουργήθηκε στις 28/9/2017 Σελίδα 5/5