Denizli Province (Turkish:Denizli ili) (Turkish pronunciation:[deniz'ʎiiʎi]) is aprovince andmetropolitan municipality ofTurkey in WesternAnatolia, on high ground above theAegean coast. Neighbouring provinces areUşak to the north,Burdur,Isparta,Afyon to the east,Aydın,Manisa to the west andMuğla to the south. It is located between the coordinates 28° 30’ and 29° 30’ E and 37° 12’ and 38° 12’ N. Its area is 12,134 km2,[4] and its population is 1,056,332 (2022).[3] The provincial capital is the city ofDenizli.
There are traces ofprehistoric cultures throughout the province, including evidence of pre-Hittite cultures and theHittites themselves. The Hittites were followed byPhrygians,Lydians andPersians, and then cities founded by theancient Greeks andAlexander the Great. The first real settlement was the city ofLaodicea on the Lycus which was established by KingAntiochus II for his wife Laodice. Laodicea is located 6 km north of the city of Denizli.The city ofHierapolis was established around 190 BC by thePergamene Kingdom, one of theHellenistic states of Anatolia. The calcified terraces and pools ofPamukkale (Cotton Castle) now stand below the ruins of Hierapolis. The two cities, Laodicea and Hierapolis later came under Roman rule, and with the division of the Empire in 395 were left within the boundaries of theEast Roman Empire.
The province has strong biblical connections: in theBook of Revelation,John the Evangelist hears a loud voice which sounded like a trumpet when he was on the island ofPatmos. The voice says: "Write down what you see and send the book to the Churches in these seven cities:Ephesus,Smyrna,Pergamum,Thyatira,Sardis,Philadelphia and Laodicea". TheChurch of Laodicea was a sacred place even in pre-Christian times, and is still visited byChristians today, although it lost its importance to a great extent duringByzantine rule.
Turks were first seen in Denizli in 1070 whenAfşin Bey, under the control of theSeljuk SultanAlp Arslan, raided the area. The second and thirdCrusades fought here against theSeljuk Turks under the command ofKazıkbeli, who managed to flee with a small force toAntalya which was also captured by theCrusaders. Later, after the Turks had established control of the ancient cities, they moved south to the site of the present city of Denizli, where drinking water was brought through stone pipes. The name Laodicea slowly changed into “Ladik” then other names were given "Tonguzlu", "Tonuzlu", "Tenguzlug", "Donuzlu" and finally "Denizli". AfterWorld War I, when theGreek Army captured the city ofİzmir on May 15, 1919, one of the first centres of Turkish resistance formed at an open-air meeting inDenizli. A Turkish militia formed lines on the Menderes organized byYörük Ali Efe and Demirci Efe, involving large numbers of volunteers from the local peasantry. Stiffened by the Turkish regular army, Greek forces were repelled, and Denizli remained in Turkish hands throughout theGreco-Turkish War.
Approximately 28–30% of the land is plain, 25% is high plateau and tableland, and 47% is mountainous. At 2,571 m (8,435 ft)Mount Honaz is the highest in the province, and indeed in WesternAnatolia.Babadag in the Mentes range has a height of 2,308 m (7,572 ft). The biggest lake in Denizli isAcıgöl, which means "bitter lake", and indeed industrial salts (sodium sulphate) are extracted from this lake, which is highly alkaline. There is a thermal spring to the west ofSarayköy, at the source of the GreatMenderes River, which contains bicarbonates and sulfates. There is another hot spring inKızıldere which reaches 200 °C (392 °F). Ageothermal steam source was first found in the region in 1965 during drilling work. Today there is a power plant producing electricity from the geothermal steam. Only 11% of the geothermal energy source is used to produce electricity and 89% of it, which flows into the Great Menderes, is 150 °C (302 °F) at source (it is contains energy equal to 35,000–40,000 t (35,000–40,000 t) of fuel oil).
In general theAegean region has a Mediterranean climate. Temperatures can rise to 40 °C (104 °F) during summer and fall to −5 °C (23 °F) in winter. There are about 80 days with precipitation, mainly during winter.
Denizli is renowned in Turkey for having a famous breed ofcock, renowned for its appearance and colour, along with its prolonged and melodious crows. Great effort is taken by the state and local farmers to preserve the breed.In appearance the Denizli cock has black eyes, dark grey legs, a long neck, and a red crown. It weighs 3–3.5 kg (6.6–7.7 lb), and has a distinctive crow.
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