Kahramanmaraş

關於Kahramanmaraş

Kahramanmaraş, historically Marash and Germanicea (Greek: Γερμανίκεια), is a city in the Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was officially named Kahramanmaraş with the prefix kahraman (Turkish word meaning "heroic") to commemorate the Battle of Marash. The city lies on a plain at the foot of Mount Ahır.

On 6 February 2023, much of the city was destroyed in the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes which had their epicentre in Pazarcık and Elbistan in Kahramanmaraş province.

In the early Iron Age (late 11th century BC to ca. 711 BC), Maraş was the capital city of the Syro-Hittite state Gurgum (Hieroglyphic Luwian Kurkuma). It was known as "the Kurkumaean city" to its Luwian inhabitants and as Marqas to the Assyrians. In 711 BC, the land of Gurgum was annexed as an Assyrian province and renamed Marqas after its capital.

Maraş was called Germanicia Caesarea (Ancient Greek: Γερμανίκεια, Germanikeia) by the Romans, which is a phonetic spelling Kermanicaeia/Germanicaeia and Kermanicia/Germanicia, in the time of the Roman...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.