INVESTIGATING THE CHANGING PROCESS OF VINEYARDS AND ORCHARDS IN KAYSERI CITY AND ITS VICINITY
Kayseri, a developing industrial and economy city, has a deep rooted history.
According to the historian Stephanus, Kaisareia (Kayseri) is the capital of Cappadocia.
The first settlement in the plateau in which the city is currently situated dates back to the XIth century BC.
The city has settled down to the north of the volcanic Erciyes Mountain, which is the highest mountain of Middle Anatolia. Vineyard and orchard areas surround the city, especially on its south side. Most of these areas are in the domain of the greater city municipality. Other vineyards are in a close spatial and functional relation with the city and they tend to spatially and administratively merge with the city.
The existence of vineyards is documented since the XVth century, and they characterized the households of Christian and Moslem communities until the XXth century. In the settlement pattern, there are natural, urban, archeological and mixed protected areas. In vineyards and orchards that have a rich cultural texture, fruit growing and making wine have been important activities for economic intentions, besides viticulture. Fruit growing and wine making have always been important economical activities: many kinds of fruits were kept as fresh or dried and molasses and fruit juice were produced.
These sloping areas are not suitable for agricultural and urban uses, due to the soil type and the geomorphological structure. Now, a lot of houses in these areas have been abandoned and neglected: some of the historical buildings have been destroyed and replaced with summer cottages, causing a stylistic chaos. Vineyards, orchards and traditional rural life have disappeared in the course of time and the plots have become smaller by division, along with an intensification of a dense urban development.
In this study, the past and present situations of vineyards and orchards will be compared and solution will be proposed for revitalizing viticulture and horticulture activities.
The city has settled down to the north of the volcanic Erciyes Mountain, which is the highest mountain of Middle Anatolia. Vineyard and orchard areas surround the city, especially on its south side. Most of these areas are in the domain of the greater city municipality. Other vineyards are in a close spatial and functional relation with the city and they tend to spatially and administratively merge with the city.
The existence of vineyards is documented since the XVth century, and they characterized the households of Christian and Moslem communities until the XXth century. In the settlement pattern, there are natural, urban, archeological and mixed protected areas. In vineyards and orchards that have a rich cultural texture, fruit growing and making wine have been important activities for economic intentions, besides viticulture. Fruit growing and wine making have always been important economical activities: many kinds of fruits were kept as fresh or dried and molasses and fruit juice were produced.
These sloping areas are not suitable for agricultural and urban uses, due to the soil type and the geomorphological structure. Now, a lot of houses in these areas have been abandoned and neglected: some of the historical buildings have been destroyed and replaced with summer cottages, causing a stylistic chaos. Vineyards, orchards and traditional rural life have disappeared in the course of time and the plots have become smaller by division, along with an intensification of a dense urban development.
In this study, the past and present situations of vineyards and orchards will be compared and solution will be proposed for revitalizing viticulture and horticulture activities.
Kurtaslan, B.O. and Kocatürk, F. (2010). INVESTIGATING THE CHANGING PROCESS OF VINEYARDS AND ORCHARDS IN KAYSERI CITY AND ITS VICINITY. Acta Hortic. 881, 429-432
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.881.69
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.881.69
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.881.69
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.881.69
urban horticulture, Kayseri city, vineyard life, vinegrowing in Kayseri, urban transformation
English