Karaman

Karaman (formerly Larende) is a town in south central Turkey, located north of the Taurus Mountains, ca 100 km south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According to 2000 census it has a population of 105,384. The Karaman Museum is one of the major sights.

Etymology

The town owes its name to Karaman Bey who was one of the rulers of the Karamanids. The former name comes from the Greek Laranda which in turn comes from the Luwian language Larawanda, literally "sandy, a sandy place".

History

In ancient times Karaman was known as Laranda. It was destroyed by Perdiccas in about 322 BC and later became a seat of Isaurian pirates. It belonged to the Roman and later Byzantine Empire until it was captured by the Seljuks in the early 12th century. Karaman was occupied by Frederick Barbarossa in 1190.In 1256, the town was taken by the Turkish warlord Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey and was renamed Karaman in his honor. From 1275, Karaman was the capital of the emirate (and later Ottoman province) of Karamanid. In 1468 Karamanid was conquered by the Ottomans and in 1483 the capital of the province was moved to Konya. Karaman has retained ruins of a Karamanid castle and some walls, two mosques and a Qur'an school (madrasah) from that age. An exquisite mihrab from a mosque from Karaman can now be found in the Çinili Pavilion near today's Archeology Museum in Istanbul.